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.

Post Captain Ramage is prowling the Tuscan coast and far from English aid when he encounters a daunting French invasion fleet. As the enemy gathers strength, Ramage must decide how to thwart its actions with only the frigate Calypso and a pair of bomb ketches.

A riveting historical thriller debut perfect for the fans of Gangs of New York and the works of Caleb Carr.

Ramage and the Drumbeat takes the brave Lord Ramage to the new world where he becomes embroiled in a series of electrifying sea battles and hazardous political shenanigans. He must once again prove his mettle as he undergoes the merciless enemy attacks. Fighting alongside Lord Nelson, this is Ramage at his best.

Across the English Channel, Napoleon has massed a great invasion flotilla. English forces, under Lord Nelson, are all but paralyzed—not knowing the size, strength, or time of the foreign onslaught. In a brilliant yet daring spy scheme to protect Britain's shores, Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage is chosen to plumb the secrets of the French High Command—and the penalty for failure is the guillotine.

Ramage is hoping to enjoy a well-deserved leave when he instead receives new orders: commission and take command of the Dido, a massive 74-gun ship that carries enough weight of metal to destroy a frigate in a single broadside or sweep a ship's decks clear of men. Accompanied by the courageous crew of the Calypso, Ramage ventures to sea once again—bound for the West Indies, where he faces the challenge of commanding this massive weapon of war.

Setting off on a sweep for freebooters in the waters off Jamaica, Ramage and the crew of the Calypso stumble upon a scene of carnage: a sinking British ship, her crew and passengers—men and women alike—ruthlessly murdered at the hands of a French privateer. Supported by his men in a thirst for righteous vengeance, Ramage ferrets out the brigand's name and sets sail to bring him in.

Ramage and the Calypso are sent to Sicily to track down Barbary Coast pirates—the Saraceni—who are capturing slaves and terrorizing fishing villages along the coast. Ramage is ordered to track the pirates to their home and destroy them before they can devastate another Sicilian town—and in the process, he and his crew must attempt to rescue hundreds of Italian prisoners!

Ramage is summoned by the Admiralty and given command of the brig Triton. But like the rest of the navy, Triton's crew has mutinied. Sympathizing with some of their complaints, Ramage also knows that if he fails to deliver three sealed dispatches to admirals off Brest and Cadiz and in the Caribbean, he will become a convenient scapegoat.

This book provides summaries and analyses of more than 250 novels and nearly 30 films and examines the extent to which they accurately reflect the history, mores and manners of the period--and the extent to which they reveal the ideas and attitudes of their authors and of the periods in which they were written. Particular emphasis is placed on the nature and importance of the war at sea for the British and on the role of famous naval officers such as Nelson, Pellew, Duncan, Smith and Cochrane in the defeat of Napoleon.