Customer Reviews

The Burning of Monterey : The 1818 Attack on California by the Privateer Bouchard

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Uhrowczik's concise history of California's greatest battle between ships and shore is an eye-opener. Almost everywhere else Hippolyte Bouchard is characterized as a self-serving pirate, but this book patiently unveils privateer Bouchard's attempts to serve a fledgling country, Argentina, in her struggles with the far-flung power of Spain. Thoroughly researched (In addition to visiting archives in Argentina and Berkeley, Uhrowczik physically examined the entire Monterey shoreline as it pertains to his story), The Burning of Monterey brings the lost facts of a byegone era back to life. This book is one of those wonderful gems hidden in the libraries of the well-read.

This book fills a little known niche in American history. It's short, not complex, but still fills the bill for information.

This is a thoroughly absorbing and interesting history of the travels and travails of a swashbuckling privateer (some say pirate) who attacked the port of Monterey by sea during the days when the latter was the capitol of Spanish Alta California.
Written in sparse prose and maticulously researched, it is nevertheless very readable, letting the excitment of the events themselves capture the reader's interest.