Cabo Trafalgar in the Moonlight: Pen & Sail: My Life with Dudley Pope

The Observer newspaper once wrote of Dudley Pope that he was “an author who really knows Nelson's navy,” while the Guardian maintained he had an “expert knowledge of naval history.” Imagine, therefore, his heightened emotions and sense of history as he sailed his yacht past Cape Trafalgar one moonlit night. Moreover, standing beside him was his wife Kay; friend, constant companion, and much loved, whose support and encouragement he relied upon. Dudley Pope later encapsulated the moment in a doubly romantic dedication in his book Ramage’s Challenge, the fourteenth in the acclaimed series. In her book Kay Pope goes beyond a simple description of her life as the wife and confidant of a famous author sailor, and manages to capture for herself and her readers the atmosphere and idiosyncrasies of the places they visited and lived awhile, along with the humanity of the many people who crossed their paths.