by Dudley Pope
Ramage & the Guillotine
As France recovers from her bloody Revolution, Napoleon is amassing his armies for the Great Invasion. News in England is sketchy and the Navy must prepare to defend the land from foreign attack. Lieutenant Ramage is chosen to travel to France and embark upon the perilous quest of spying on the great Napoleon. His mission is to determine the strength of the French troops – but his discovery will mean the guillotine!
Ramage & the Renegades
The Treaty of Amiens is signed and Nelson’s navy languishes in port. Ramage is at home on half pay and suspects Napoleon will yet break the terms of the Treaty. He is then given secret Admiralty orders to survey a small island off the coast of Brazil. He sails in Calypso, but then encounters more danger than in previous exploits.
Ramage’s Devil
Ramage is suddenly caught behind enemy lines when on honeymoon in France, as the Peace of Amien unexpectedly ends. The story chronicles his escape and dashing adventures in true Ramage style, as an enemy ship is captured and a sub-plot develops involving a pursuit to the prison colony on Devil’s Island.
Ramage’s Diamond
In 1804, Ramage is newly promoted to be the youngest Captain in the Royal Navy and is despatched to blockade the French in Martinique. The passage proves difficult; a slovenly crew under the command of a now incompetent drunk having to be overcome so as to realise the objective. Diamond Rock is fortified and a French convoy dealt with as this gripping adventure proceeds, emulating the real life exploits of Commodore Samuel Hood RN.
Ramage at Trafalgar
Lord Ramage returns to fight in the most famous of Britain’s sea battles. Summoned by Admiral Nelson himself, Ramage is sent to join the British fleet off Cadiz where the largest battle in naval history is about to take place. Finding himself in the front line of battle, Lord Ramage must fight to save his own life as well as for his country. The result is a thrilling, hair-raising adventure from one of our best-loved naval writers.
Ramage & the Saracens
When Ramage and the frigate Calypso are ordered to Naples, he does not expect to meet with any trouble in the Mediterranean, as Trafalgar has been won and a time of peace should prevail. However, two French ships of the line are then sighted. Moreover, upon arrival in Naples, Ramage fully expects to be put onto convoy duty, escorting merchantmen. Unexpectedly, he is given orders to set sail for Sicily where he has deal with pirates, the Saraceni, who have been terrorizing fishing ports.
Ramage & the Dido
In recognition of his great achievements at sea, their Lordships of the Admiralty have made Lord Nicholas Ramage captain of a ship of the line – the youngest man to be so honoured since Nelson himself. And so Ramage sets sail on the Dido, a formidable fighting weapon and the most prized war machine of the British Navy. But sooner than expected, Ramage is called upon to test the Dido to the full as his path to the Caribbean is beset with troubles. Thrilling and exhilarating, Ramage and the Dido is a fitting conclusion to Lord Ramage’s adventures at sea.
C. Non-Fiction
Harry Morgan’s Way: The Biography of Sir Henry Morgan 1635-1688
‘Morgan the Pirate’ is a name long associated with all the trappings of pirate living – skull and crossbones, pieces of eight, speeding ships, almost in fact ‘with a yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum’. As legend has it, his was a life of high adventure, dastardly battles and more than a few gold coins thrown in, collected by underhand means of course. Yet if this legend is true, why did Charles II knight him at the height of his career and why was he given the exalted position of governor of Jamaica? In this authoritative biography, Dudley Pope lays to rest this popularised image and resurrects the man behind the myth. He reveals the real Henry Morgan to have been a brave and honourable soldier and a master tactician, with a vital role to play in world history. Pope brilliantly captures the political and historical events of the seventeenth-century Caribbean, and shows how, without Morgan’s involvement, the course of Jamaica’s history would have been very different. This is a masterly, definitive biography bringing together all the thrill of pirate life at sea with the true story of a remarkable soldier and buccaneer.
Battle of the River Plate
This remains the most authoritative account of the British Naval victory at the commencement of World War II. Written from British and German official records, it recounts the sinking of the Graf Spee by scuttling just ouside Montivideo harbour. As well as providing intimate detail concerning the preceding naval battle, Dudley Pope covers the personalities, the intrigue and deceptions ashore, as well as recounting Graf Spee’s earlier history. A magnificent account from a renowned naval historian.
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