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Chargement... The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War against the Pirates of North Africapar Frederick C. Leiner
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Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. An informative little narrative that looks at the America's second campaign against the Barbary States and how it helped to set the tone for much of Antebellum American foreign policy, cemented Stephen Decatur's status as an American icon, and marked the beginning of the end of the Barbary States as independent players. While one might have liked to have known more about how Tripoli, Tunis, and the like functioned in the Ottoman system (such as how Janissary troops were even present), what really interests Leiner is the personal politics of the early United States Navy. These turned septic after this adventure was successfully concluded, and ultimately contributed to Decatur's demise in a duel. A remarkably detailed account of the war. Perhaps a bit too detailed; I had difficulty getting through some of it. There's no denying, though, that this was well-researched and that the author is very familiar with the subject. He even takes the time to bring up and dispute other historians' theories. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Focuses on the fledgling American nation's diplomatic and naval campaign in 1812 to break the Barbary pirates, rogue states of North Africa. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)973.4History and Geography North America United States Constitutional period (1789-1809)Classification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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Much like the previous Barbary war, this one was all Stephen Decatur. Decatur was theoretically under the command of William Bainbridge, but Bainbridge was delayed in getting the main fleet units and Decatur was sent ahead with a small squadron. (There’s some hints that political maneuvers by Decatur’s supporters were involved). Upon arrival in the Mediterranean, Decatur immediately encountered the main unit of the Algerian fleet, the 46-gun frigate Meshuda, commanded by rais Hamidou. As was fitting, Hamidou was the best Algerian captain, having once taken a Portuguese 36-gun frigate in battle; however, he was far overmatched here, since Decatur had three frigates, a sloop, three brigs, and a schooner. The American sailors complimented the Algerians on their skillful ship handling while attempting to escape, but the heart went out of the Algerians when rais Hamidou was hit in the chest by a 42-pound carronade ball from Guerriere.
Most of the remainder of the war consisted of Decatur “negotiating from a position of strength” with the Dey of Algiers. Being the Dey was considerable less fun than it sounds, since the previous three Deys had all been assassinated by their own troops – one after only a week, not even enough to do a once around the harem. This put the Dey in a difficult position; he had no more navy and no way to fight Decatur, but the entire national finances of Algiers were based on piracy and if the Dey concluded a treaty eliminating it the troops might get restless again. After considerable stalling, Decatur eventually got the treaty with the assistance of various American diplomats and the Swedish consul.
Frederick Leiner’s book is an interesting account of an obscure period of American history. He draws a little on contemporary issues; The End of Barbary Terror is not about a seagoing Al Qaeda but people more like the modern Somali pirates, more interested in getting rich with a little jihad on the side than spreading terror. The secondary characters are well researched – Benjamin Crowninshield, Secretary of the Navy; William Shaler, US ambassador to Algiers; and Mordecai Noah, on special diplomatic service and apparently the first American Jew to be appointed to a government office. The only drawback is the maps; the naval actions are all illustrated by contemporary sketches from officer’s notes, which are interesting history but don’t give a real idea of what happened. ( )