Neither Ramage nor Bolitho seem on a par with Hornblower - I am not sure what it is that they lack, but they do not enable me to visualise the scenes and situations like the Hornblower stories do.

The Sharpe series is not bad, though the writing seems a little lacking in places, as though it could have done with going over one more time to get it right.

I sang 'over the hills and far away' last week at the folk festival - the original Queen Anne version though, not Sharpe's King George, with the slightly altered tune. It was appreciated by an educated audience.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: