Commodore Bolitho knows that his own future is at stake, but also that the future of England hinges on his decisions and that, as he places his squadron between the Nile and the power of France, he must accept the price of the challenge.

In Signal Close Action, Bolitho must weather illness, conflict with his old friend Herrick, betrayal and a ferocious battle with a French squadron in the Corfu Channel before he can lay his ship alongside the enemy in the climactic Battle of the Nile.

Signal Close Action is among my favorites in the Bolitho series. Kent displays great familiarity with the historical context as well as with naval life and naval battle. The story telling is wonderful as well. There is a lot of attention to detail, superb phrasing, and good character descriptions and development. The naval action in this book is second to none. Signal Close Action is historical fiction at its best.

See many more reviews of nautical fiction books at leserglede.com: Horatio Hornblower, Richar Delancey, Thomas Kydd, Alan Lewrie and other series!

Links to Alexander Kent’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

©2010 Euro bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Again, this is a fast-paced story from Dudley Pope. There is a lot of action. Ramage spots a skulking privateer, his ship is terrorized by a hurricane, he hunts treasure, and he obtains a prize, and finally he is subjected to another court martial. And, as usual, Pope’s writing is excellent, and the plot is a little unlikely but even so very interesting. The sea action in this book is good, but there is perhaps a little less of it than I would have liked.

Ramage is a very fascinating character, and to some extent it is this character and especially his behavior during the court martial, that makes this book interesting. Governor Ramage is perhaps not the best in the series, but it is still a Ramage well worth reading!

Links to Dudley Pope’s books at Ramage at amazon US, amazon UK, amazon CAN, and at Bokkilden.no.

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Richard Bolitho is lucky to be assigned a frigate mission to the East Indies, with His Majesty’s frigate Undine. His mission is ‘secret’.The objective is to found a colony in an area disputed with other colonial powers. However, he is challenged by an experienced French captain who, with his ship, has been seconded to the service of a ruthless local potentate.

Action on both sea and land in Command a King’s Ship is violent and bloody. As well, the technical detail and historic context are conveyed in a wholly convincing manner. The story builds up to a splendid climax in which Bolitho’s faithful friend Herrick, who will appear in many novels of the series, emerges as the principal hero of the story. A great read!

(More reviews of books by Alexander Kent.)

Links to Alexander Kent’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

©2010 Euro bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Drumbeat is the second book in the series about Lord Ramage, and it is perhaps even better than the first. It is a very entertaining book. There are many good things to be said about it. Probably what impressed me the most was how innovative Pope is in his writing!

The action in Drumbeat is often far from the usual action in books about naval warfare in the Age of Sails. Rather than letting Ramage simply engage in the “usual” artillery slug-fests, where ships line up against one another and shoot till one of them has had it, Ramage uses both unusual and very creative tactics during the battles. In this sense, the Ramage books – both this book an several of the others – are very “innovative” and intelligent books.

In this book, Ramage falls in with frigates, both Spanish and British, has an onshore diversion spying on the enemy, has a run-in with a Levanter, and returns to save the day for the fleet and his beloved Commodore Nelson. The final battle in this book, essentially the Battle of St. Vincent, is magnificently described in this book.

The book is also fairly well-written, even though Pope may not be a Patrick O’Brian or an Alexander Kent in terms of quality prose. As well, Pope is extremely knowledgeable about sailing and the Age of Sail and it shows! A great read!

©2010 Euro bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Bolitho is a hero of the old school. In this, the first book chronologically, Richard Bolitho is a midshipman, and he must deal with pirates, a lieutenant who hates him but stilltakes credit for his ideas, and, as well his first command. Working hard to improve himself and learn, he is sucessful. But the learning is painful and costly to him.

There is some background, both about Richard Bolitho and the Navy here. Bolitho comes from a solid naval family, with proud traditions. And, there is a lot of knowledge about the functioning of the Royal Navy at the time being imparted in this novel. For instance about its structure and the necessity for firm discipline.

This is a great novel, holding a lot of promise for the series. You may want to start with this book and read it chronologically, even thought that is not required – each book in the series stands on its own feet.

Links to Alexander Kent’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

©2010 Euro bookblog. All Rights Reserved.