Set in 1800 during the Mediterranean war against France, The Ramage Touch finds Captain Nicholas Ramage cruising the Tuscan coast far from immediate British support. When he discovers a threatening French concentration, he has only HMS Calypso and a pair of bomb vessels with which to interfere with a force far larger than his own.
The problem is one of improvisation: Ramage cannot win by matching the enemy ship for ship, so he must exploit geography, timing and the unusual capabilities of the vessels available to him. Pope uses the confined coastal waters of Tuscany to create a campaign in which reconnaissance and calculated risk are as important as gunnery. The novel also continues Ramage's long connection with Italy, where personal loyalties and political consequences repeatedly complicate what would otherwise be a straightforward naval order.
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