Ramage's Trial

by Dudley Pope

Book Overview

Captain Lord Ramage and the Calypso return from Devil's Island, but Ramage's new wife, Sarah, is missing. The captain would like nothing better than to sail home immediately, but instead he is ordered to shepherd a lumbering convoy of merchant ships back to England. On the way, bizarre events lead him to a full court martial in Plymouth, presided over by his old nemesis, Rear-Admiral Goddard. Ramage must clear his name--or face a sentence of death...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590130111
• ISBN13: 9781590130117
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: McBooks Press
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Very good book

In this installment of Pope's Ramage series, our hero is escorting a convoy back to England from the Caribbean. Sometime during the voyage, another British frigate appears and fires on Ramage's ship, after which Ramage and the boys board the other ship, where they are met by the other captain, who steadfastly asserts that his ship did not fire on Ramage. Well, Ramage leaves one of his lieutenants on board for the rest of voyage (the new ship joins the convoy as an escort). When the convoy arrives in England, the other captain, or course, files charges against Ramage for Ramage having boarded his ship and removing him from his command. OK, then the trial. The whole episode with the other ship and subsequent trial read like a thriller. The reader can hardly wait to find out why the other ship fired with the captain and crew all deny having done so. A suggestion that they're under a voodoo spell is not serious, but well taken. There really seems to be no explanation. Well, the trial is conducted by an old enemy of the Ramage's, who seems hellbent on finding Ramage guilty by disallowing any testimony that might explain Ramage's actions. Everything seems hopeless. Well, as always, there's a way out of the problem. As is the case with all of Pope's (and I suppose everyone's) books, it's not whether he'll get out of it, but how. Even though the story is captivating, I must admit I was a bit unsatisfied with the finale. The solution was not quite as Perry Mason-esque as I would have liked. I would have liked a bit more suspense and a few twists to explain everything. I won't give anything way, though--you'll have to read the book! So, maybe I should take off part of a star. But all in all, it was a very good read and I enjoyed it a lot. I'll keep going with the series.

Another court martial

Of all the fictional naval captains, Captain Lord Ramage is the most adored by his men. He is the alter ego of the real Admiral Lord Nelson, victor of Trafalgar and hero of the British Navy and of the English people. With his many victories and prizes, Ramage by now should be too rich to sail, but here he is in his 15th book and still only a Post Captain. But we'll allow that because frigate captains have all the fun, and admirals of advancing age equally late in their series, like Kent's Bolitho or O'Brian's Aubrey, have too many remote worries. The main story line is a convoy back to England and its plodding operations overseen by Ramage, torn by a bizarre meet with another British frigate. Although newly married, Ramage struggles with an infatuation with a lady of the convoy. There's also the strangest case of mutiny I've ever read. Haled into court, Ramage is court martialled for his life, with an infuriatingly biased judge guiding his fate. Throughout there overhangs the disturbing worry that Ramage's bride (of the previous novel Ramage's Devil) has been lost at sea. Paul Wright's cover painting is the weakest in his series, a lethargic stern chase.