To the Shores of Tripoli: The Birth of the U.S. Navy and Marines (Bluejacket Books) - Softcover

Whipple, A. B. C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1557509662 ISBN 13: 9781557509666

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, 2001

Synopsis

Often-overlooked yet significant and prophetic event in U.S. history, the Barbary War was America's first battle against an Arab despot and President Thomas Jefferson's first major challenge to U.S. foreign policy. As described by A.B.C. Whipple, it is a great yarn as well as first-rate history. The author skillfully combines vivid accounts of derring-do with shrewd appraisals of contemporary politics and diplomacy. Because the Continental Navy had been disbanded, there was an urgent need to develop a new Navy and Marine Corps. Faced with the choice of trading arms for hostages or meeting force with force, Jefferson sent a squadron of warships to the Mediterranean while Congress was in recess, prompting the first major debate on the war-making powers of a U.S. president. The war included a blockade of Tripoli, sustained bombardment by the Navy's new frigates, and finally a ground war fought by a U.S. Army captain, eight Marines, and a rabble of Christians and Arabs sent to free the hostages.

Whipple's rousing narrative is filled with fascinating personalities. In addition to Jefferson, there is Commodore Edward Preble, the quarter-deck tyrant who commanded the first naval forces into battle; the bold junior officer Stephen Decatur; the tyrannical bashaw, Yusuf Karamanli; William Eaton, an early-day Lawrence of Arabia; Marine lieutenant Presley O'Bannon; and a host of others.

About this title

About the Author:

A. B. C. Whipple is a retired executive editor of Time-Life Books and a former editor of Life. He is the author of dozens of books on maritime history.

From Kirkus Reviews:

America's first hostage crises date back to its formative years, when Muslim pirates operating out of city-state ports along North Africa's Barbary Coast preyed on its merchant vessels in the Mediterranean. Here, with considerable analytic flair, Whipple (The Challenge, 1987) sorts out Washington's often irresolute response to these seizures and the incarceration of US sailors. In his engrossing narrative (which neither ignores nor belabors obvious parallels to latter-day events in the Middle East), the author skillfully combines vivid accounts of derring-do with shrewd appraisals of contemporary politics and diplomacy. Among other events, the many-splendored story line encompasses the first US attempt to overthrow the head of a hostile government (the bashaw of Tripoli), plus America's initial effort to isolate another nation via blockade--and bombardment. Covered as well are our nation's earliest debates on defense budgets, foreign intervention, the President's war-making powers, and allied issues that have proved nothing if not perdurable. In addition to the satisfyingly treacherous villains, the plot features a great many authentic American heroes and more than a few shady middlemen offering to swap arms for captives. Standouts in the white-hat ranks include Edward Preble (a quarter-deck tyrant who commanded the first US Navy forces to go into battle), Stephen Decatur (then a junior officer of notable boldness), and William Eaton. As a self-styled general, Eaton led a rabble of Arabs, Christians, and eight US Marines out of Egypt across the Libyan desert to free the 307-man crew of an American warship captured by the Tripolitans. How legates with their own agendas cheated him (and the US) of a hard-won victory at the 11th hour makes a fascinating and cautionary tale. Americana at its rousing and resonant best. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1557509662
• ISBN 13: 9781557509666
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360