Victory in Tripoli: How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation
London may hope that his sound history of the war with the Barbary pirates, published in time for the 2005 bicentennial of the conflict, will inspire readers to support new efforts in the war on terrorism. At any rate, he gives us a thoroughly readable history of a prolonged crisis in American foreign and naval policy that arose when the U.S. became independent from Great Britain and commerce that had been colonial was no longer sheltered by a mother country's large navy. To cope with the seizing of American ships and the ransoming of American sailors who were held under often barbaric conditions, the U.S. revived its navy and sent it into action off the shores of Tripoli. A cheap or unqualified victory wasn't achieved, but a useful precedent was set for armed resistance to international extortion. Moreover, the U.S. made a permanent commitment to maintaining a navy. London also gives full credit for valiant effort to Consul William Eaton, who marched across the desert to press the pirates by land.Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved