When Barbary pirates captured an obscure Yankee sailing brig off the coast of North Africa in 1812, enslaving eleven American sailors, President James Madison first tried to settle the issue through diplomacy. But when these efforts failed, he sent the largest American naval force ever gathered to that time, led by the heroic Commodore Stephen Decatur, to end Barbary terror once and for all. Drawing upon numerous ship logs, journals, love letters, and government documents, Frederick C. Leiner paints a vivid picture of the ...
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When Barbary pirates captured an obscure Yankee sailing brig off the coast of North Africa in 1812, enslaving eleven American sailors, President James Madison first tried to settle the issue through diplomacy. But when these efforts failed, he sent the largest American naval force ever gathered to that time, led by the heroic Commodore Stephen Decatur, to end Barbary terror once and for all. Drawing upon numerous ship logs, journals, love letters, and government documents, Frederick C. Leiner paints a vivid picture of the world of naval officers and diplomats in the early nineteenth century, as he recreates a remarkable and little known episode from the early American republic. Leiner first describes Madison's initial efforts at diplomacy, sending Mordecai Noah to negotiate, reasoning that the Jewish Noah would fare better with the Islamic leader. But when the ruler refused to ransom the Americans - "not for two millions of dollars" - Madison declared war and sent a fleet to North Africa. Decatur's squadron dealt quick blows to the Barbary navy, dramatically fighting and capturing two ships. Decatur then sailed to Algiers. He refused to go ashore to negotiate - indeed, he refused to negotiate on any essential point. The ruler of Algiers signed the treaty - in Decatur's words, "dictated at the mouths of our cannon" - in twenty-four hours. The United States would never pay tribute to the Barbary world again, and the captive Americans were set free - although in a sad, ironic twist, they never arrived home, their ship being lost at sea in heavy weather. Here then is a real-life naval adventure that will thrill fans of Patrick O'Brian, a story of Islamic terrorism, white slavery, poison gas, diplomatic intrigue, and battles with pirates on the high seas.
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-1. Full Number Line First Edtiion; 2006, Oxford University Press. Hardcover with nice dust jacket, shows some light age wear, solid spine, binding & hinges, tight and unmarked. We take great pride in accurately describing the condition of our books and media, ship within 48 hours, and offer a 100% money back guarantee. Customers purchasing more than one item from us may be entitled to a shipping discount.
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Very Good in Fine jacket. 8vo. viii, 239pp, index, bibliography, notes, appendices, bw ills. or boards in jacket. Prev owners name on front free endpaper. When Barbary pirates captured a Yankee brig off the coast of North Africa in 1812, enslaving eleven American sailors, President Madison tried to settle the issue through diplomacy. These efforts having failed he sent the largest American force gathered to that time, led by Commodore Stephen Decature, to end the Barabry terror once and for all.
When I first saw this book I thought "Shores of Tripoli" and all that. This actually occurs about ten years later. The book covers the decisions to go to the North African Coast and who was to be in charge of which section. Decatur's actions precluded others from regaining reputations and rankled some in the Navy. By successfully beating the Algerian bey Decatur changed the views of several European countries regarding the Barbary pirates activities and economic base.