When Ramage reaches Dutch, now French controlled, island of Curacao it is plagued by French privateers and Dutch rebels pillaging in the name of the Revolution. The Governor surrenders the island to the British and Ramage destroys the rebels, only to have the Governor turn on him when a Dutch frigate arrives.

Interesting story based on the incident published in the Fourth Edition of Steel's Naval chronologist of the Late War published in 1806, in which the island of Curacao was surrendered to the Nereid in September of 1800. ( )

For me, Pope is back on track with this novel.

A feature in his latest book is getting into the head of serious support characters. Through this writing (that may seem like padding to some) you get to understand the motivation behind these characters and that adds a lot to the story IMHO.

His latest books seems to depend on "Ruse de Guerre" a bit too much in my opinion. It is fine to do it once in a while but if it is constantly used soon it will be boring. Slow in the middle but the action picks up a lot in the last 100 pages.

A satisfying read. ( )

Ruthless privateers have taken over an island giving Ramage the opportunity to engage the Dutch Navy, a French ally.
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. ( )