"There is a way to write a series such as this and Mr Allen has mastered that art."
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Nautical / Napoleonic Wars
1800s
The Baltic
This
is, I think, the third book of this series that I have read and I have enjoyed
every one of them - I believe there are seven in total, I will need to catch up!
Alexander
Clay is the Captain of the frigate Griffin and, having been honourably acquitted of a court martial is
assigned to convey an English MP to Copenhagen on a mission to try and persuade
Denmark to leave a disastrous (for England) trade deal with Russia, Prussia and
Sweden. But the MP, Nicholas Vansittart, is a little more than the humble
diplomat he claims to be. And it soon becomes clear that his valet has a few
secrets of his own.
The
voyage does, of course, not go smoothly. They are rebuffed at Copenhagen and
have to sail to St Petersburg to negotiate with the weak and unpopular Tsar
Paul.
In
all this, captain and crew encounter ice-bound seas, a French privateer,
Russian conspirators and even a blossoming love affair. All this culminates in
the impressively detailed Battle of Copenhagen in which Admiral Nelson famously
remarked that he 'saw no such signal'.
There
is a way to write a series such as this and Mr Allen has mastered that art. To
those who have read previous volumes, the characters are as familiar as old
friends; those who are new will soon warm to them. The villains of the piece
are easily spotted and justice is usually meted out. Another aspect is the
ability to mix fact and fiction (Vansittart, for example, was a real person). Thorough research is imperative and here the author's is impeccable.
Descriptions of the various voyages in different weather and conditions are
excellent and characterisations fully believable.
I
do have to say, however, that I found a dozen or so typos and the
spacing between sections in a chapter was inconsistent - this latter should have been corrected by the publisher at the formatting stage. Neither of these, however, marred the overall impression and enjoyment of the story.
Fans of the great nautical writers - Forester, O'Brien and Kent - will relate to and revel in a new hero of the Napoleonic wars at sea.
Fans of the great nautical writers - Forester, O'Brien and Kent - will relate to and revel in a new hero of the Napoleonic wars at sea.
Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds
© Richard Tearle
e-version reviewed© Richard Tearle
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