Ramage & the Drumbeat

By Dudley Pope

The lieutenant is ordered to proceed to Gibraltar "with all possible despatch" aboard His Majesty's ship Kathleen, to support Lord Nelson in a battle with the Spanish off Cape Trafalgar.

• Language: English
• Publisher: McBooks Press
• Release date: Apr 1, 2000
• ISBN: 9781590135204

Dudley Pope

Dudley Bernard Egerton Pope was born in 1925 into an ancient Cornish seafaring family. He joined the Merchant Navy at the age of sixteen and spent much of his early life at sea. He was torpedoed during the Second World War and resulting spinal injuries plagued him for the rest of his life. Towards the end of the war Pope turned to journalism, becoming the Naval and Defence Correspondent for the 'London Evening News'. At this time he also researched naval history and in time became an authority on the Napoleonic era and Nelson's exploits, resulting in several well received volumes, especially on the Battles of Copenhagen and Trafalgar. Encouraged by Hornblower creator CS Forester, he also began writing fiction using his own experiences in the Navy and his extensive historical research as a basis. In 1965, he wrote 'Ramage', the first of his highly successful series of novels following the exploits of the heroic 'Lord Nicholas Ramage' during the Napoleonic Wars. Another renowned series is centred on 'Ned Yorke', a buccaneer in the seventeenth century Caribbean and then with a descendant following the 'Yorke' family naval tradition when involved in realistic secret operations during the Second World War. Dudley Pope lived aboard boats whenever possible, along with his wife and daughter, and this was where he wrote the majority of his novels. Most of his adult life was spent in the Caribbean and in addition to using the locale for fictional settings he also wrote authoritatively on naval history of the region, including a biography of the buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan. He died in 1997 aged seventy one. 'The first and still favourite rival to Hornblower' - Daily Mirror

Reviews for Ramage & the Drumbeat

[stuart10er_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Light, enjoyable reading. Retells he story of the battle on Valentine's day off the Cape of St. Vincent betwen a fleet of 15 for the English and 27 for the Spanish. The story is light and not very detailed, but it was great to read on the plane returning home.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent series, sometimes based upon actual events. Always a good story with interesting characters, puzzling quandaries and sometimes quirky solutions. Age of sail tyros should read early in their literary questing for his knowledge and insights into fighting, sailing and British Navy life during these quite fascinating times. Many set in the Caribbean where Pope lived for most of his writing career enabling him to provide very helpful maps, not often found in fiction, for his scenarios.

[delta61 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Drumbeat" is the second book in the Ramage series. Another remake of the Napoleonic War with the usual point of view. Although a naval story, it starts of as a romance. Ramage has a lot of internal rants, his mind obsessed with love for a girl that he has met only six days prior. He seems prone to losing ships and although a Captain, he still wants to be one of the boys. He stumbles from one obstacle to another, gifted enough to keep both himself and his crew alive. It was an entertaining read and there were moments when I found it hard to put down. At the end the story seemed to be cut short. Could have used another chapter and I assume that will be the first chapter of the next book.

[graysooner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good swashbuckler

[BryanLowe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good escapism. Then entire series is worthy of your enjoyment.