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Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli pirates :…
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Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli pirates : the forgotten war that changed American history (edition 2015)

by Brian Kilmeade, Don Yaeger (Author.)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,3023814,526 (3.45)14
Biography & Autobiography. History. Military. Nonfiction. HTML:??Another blockbuster! Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates reads like an edge-of-your-seat, page-turning thriller. You will love this book and also wonder why so few people know this story. No one captures the danger, intrigue, and drama of the American Revolution and its aftermath like Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.? ??Brad Thor
This is the little-known story of how a newly indepen­dent nation was challenged by four Muslim powers and what happened when America??s third president decided to stand up to intimidation.
 
When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa??s Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors and held them as slaves, demanding ransom and tribute payments far beyond what the new coun­try could afford.
 
Over the previous fifteen years, as a diplomat and then as secretary of state, Jefferson had tried to work with the Barbary states (Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco). Unfortunately, he found it impossible to negotiate with people who believed their religion jus­tified the plunder and enslavement of non-Muslims. These rogue states would show no mercy??at least not while easy money could be made by extorting the Western powers. So President Jefferson decided to move beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy??s new warships and a detachment of Marines to blockade Tripoli??launching the Barbary Wars and beginning America??s journey toward future superpower status.
 
As they did in their previous bestseller, George Washington??s Secret Six, Kilmeade and Yaeger have transformed a nearly forgotten slice of history into a dramatic story that will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. Among the many sus­penseful episodes:
 
·Lieutenant Andrew Sterett??s ferocious cannon battle on the high seas against the treacherous pirate ship Tripoli.
 
·Lieutenant Stephen Decatur??s daring night raid of an enemy harbor, with the aim of destroying an American ship that had fallen into the pirates?? hands.
·General William Eaton??s unprecedented five-hundred-mile land march from Egypt to the port of Derne, where the Marines launched a surprise attack and an American flag was raised in victory on foreign soil for the first time.
 
Few today remember these men and other heroes who inspired the Marine Corps hymn: ??From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli, we fight our country??s battles in the air, on land and sea.? Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates recaptures this forgot­ten war that changed American history with a
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Member:Rbeam
Title:Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli pirates : the forgotten war that changed American history
Authors:Brian Kilmeade
Other authors:Don Yaeger (Author.)
Info:New York, New York : Sentinel, [2015]
Collections:Your library
Rating:
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Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History by Brian Kilmeade (Author)

  1. 10
    The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World by Frank Lambert (CurrerBell)
    CurrerBell: The Kilmeade book is a quick read while the Lambert book gives a better analysis of the background of the Barbary Wars.
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» See also 14 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 37 (next | show all)
Do not waste your time. This actually deserves negative stars for the writing, but the cover is lovely so I'll let it have one.

This is extremely BAD history writing. (I would love to see what a professor would do to these authors over this.. crawling away doesn’t even BEGIN to cover it) There is little to no analysis or insight. It’s revisionist, Islamophobic, and worse its using history to suit a modern agenda. All huge no-no's. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. (I'm sparing you my extremely long rant. For what it's worth I began making notes of what was wrong in with this, then stopped as it was becoming more than an essay in itself. I ended up just putting it down.)

Had I known who the author was before I picked this up I wouldn’t have wasted my time. But I don’t watch Fox. Now I know better regarding these authors. I'm going to have to make a list of these types of authors so I'm not encountering them and having to go through this trauma again. Yes I wrote trauma. Otoh.. now I have had the opportunity to warn others.. so all is not lost andtake heed!!!

edited to add: It is a real shame because this is a very interesting topic, and with some real historical research work it could be very well addressed. That is why I picked it up. I was looking forward to some real historical research, analysis, and insight into this topic. It's a real shame this was not it. Also once again kudo's to the artist who did the cover.
( )
  Kiri | Dec 24, 2023 |
Reads more like a novel than an in depth history accounting. A good overview of the key events over a 4 year period. Well written and an easy read. ( )
  trueblueglue | Nov 23, 2023 |
I received an ARC of this title from School Library Journal in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, the Barbary pirates had been preying on merchant ships sailing in the Mediterranean’s international waters for centuries. Barbary pirates were from the north African countries of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Nations, such as Great Britain and France, either had to pay exorbitant bribes or suffer the losses inflicted when the pirates raided their merchant ships. Merchant sailors would be held for ransom and merchandise would be sold to the highest bidder if the Barbary pirates attacked.

In the 1790s, America had made peace agreements with Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli that involved paying the equivalent of one-eighth of the new government’s annual expenditures to the Barbary pirate states. The treaties were signed against the advice of Jefferson, but he was able to convince George Washington and John Adams to continue building new ships to replace the ones that had gone out of service at the end of the Revolutionary War. The first three American ships were launched in 1797 and, by the time Jefferson was elected president in 1800, the Barbary states were already demanding increases in American tribute. Jefferson declined and sent the American ships as peacemakers rather than agents of war.

American ships blockaded the harbor of Tripoli in effort to avoid outright war, but, during a resupply errand, the USS Enterprise and the Tripoli clashed, with the American ship overwhelmingly defeating the Tripolitan ship. The policy of American appeasement was over, and a new era of American global influence was beginning.

This is a fast-paced young readers adaptation of the New York Times bestselling historical thriller, with back matter that includes a timeline, sources, and an index. Recommended for students who like other works by Kilmeade, the history of the U.S. Navy or factual accounts of piracy. ( )
  scatlett | Aug 1, 2023 |
interesting part of history that is frequently overlooked, however since I just read Dead Wake and The Witches, the writing is sub-par. ( )
  Kimberlyhi | Apr 15, 2023 |
Narrative non-fiction that provides a partial history of the early US Navy and its confrontations with the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The book is a quick and easy read about a lesser known part of US history. It covers successes and failures in military and diplomatic encounters with four northern African countries, Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco, collectively known and as Barbary Coast. It highlights the efforts of a number of little-known Naval officers.

The book starts with the capture of a US merchant ship by Barbary pirates, and enslavement of its crew. The leaders of the North African nations demanded tribute in cash and goods as a fee for protection against further attacks. One of the highlights is the detailed description of the Battle of Derna in 1805, the first combined land and sea battle of US forces on non-American soil (the land group included hundreds of mercenaries).

The primary downside is an undercurrent of political slant, emphasizing a preference for the use of military force. It skims the surface of topics that warrant a deeper dive. For example, it points out the suffering of Americans enslaved by the Barbary states, but there is no mention that slavery is ongoing in the US at the same time (or of the fact that Jefferson himself owned slaves). One wonders what else has been glossed over or omitted. It has spurred my curiosity, and I plan to seek out more in-depth and impartial sources. ( )
  Castlelass | Oct 30, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 37 (next | show all)
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Yaeger, DonAuthormain authorall editionsconfirmed
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Biography & Autobiography. History. Military. Nonfiction. HTML:??Another blockbuster! Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates reads like an edge-of-your-seat, page-turning thriller. You will love this book and also wonder why so few people know this story. No one captures the danger, intrigue, and drama of the American Revolution and its aftermath like Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.? ??Brad Thor
This is the little-known story of how a newly indepen­dent nation was challenged by four Muslim powers and what happened when America??s third president decided to stand up to intimidation.
 
When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa??s Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors and held them as slaves, demanding ransom and tribute payments far beyond what the new coun­try could afford.
 
Over the previous fifteen years, as a diplomat and then as secretary of state, Jefferson had tried to work with the Barbary states (Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco). Unfortunately, he found it impossible to negotiate with people who believed their religion jus­tified the plunder and enslavement of non-Muslims. These rogue states would show no mercy??at least not while easy money could be made by extorting the Western powers. So President Jefferson decided to move beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy??s new warships and a detachment of Marines to blockade Tripoli??launching the Barbary Wars and beginning America??s journey toward future superpower status.
 
As they did in their previous bestseller, George Washington??s Secret Six, Kilmeade and Yaeger have transformed a nearly forgotten slice of history into a dramatic story that will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. Among the many sus­penseful episodes:
 
·Lieutenant Andrew Sterett??s ferocious cannon battle on the high seas against the treacherous pirate ship Tripoli.
 
·Lieutenant Stephen Decatur??s daring night raid of an enemy harbor, with the aim of destroying an American ship that had fallen into the pirates?? hands.
·General William Eaton??s unprecedented five-hundred-mile land march from Egypt to the port of Derne, where the Marines launched a surprise attack and an American flag was raised in victory on foreign soil for the first time.
 
Few today remember these men and other heroes who inspired the Marine Corps hymn: ??From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli, we fight our country??s battles in the air, on land and sea.? Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates recaptures this forgot­ten war that changed American history with a

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