Customer Reviews

Victory in Tripoli: How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation

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I saw the author give a lecture on this book last week at the Navy Museum in the Washington Navy Yard here in DC, and was impressed enough to buy the book and get it autographed - his handwriting is terrible. Fortunately, he speaks very well and is engaging, insightful and entertaining. I began reading the book that evening, and finished it within a couple of days (it is a fairly quick read). Thankfully, he writes as well as he speaks.

"Victory in Tripoli" is an amazingly good and compact book! History just dances off its pages. Strikingly, the author runs us through America's complex and confused diplomatic efforts in North Africa back then with some terrific detail and really admirable clarity and pacing.

There are many lessons to be had from this rich and worthwhile book. Here are just a few I teased out for myself.

One of the big things that I took away from this book is that our interaction with the Arabs hasn't changed all that much in 200 years. The same can be said for the behavior and attitudes of the Arabs towards us. Another big lesson I took from this book is that winning is important, there really is no substitute for victory. Clearly, there are times when one simply has to win to achieve peace, rather than endeavor to negotiate away "grievances" or "misunderstandings." Another big lesson for me from all this is that the religious dimension in the Middle East is substantive, and sometimes trumps more mundane interests like money and politics.

Another lesson I teased out of the book is that U.S. foreign policy is at its best when it sticks to its moral and philosophical principles and at its worst when it sacrifices these for realpolitik or in the name of political expediency. Another lesson that seems clear to me is that the United States is a fundamentally different sort of Nation, in virtually every worthwhile respect, from the nations of (Old World) Europe, and that America is at its best on the world's stage when it forges its own path, on its own terms.

Another aspect of this book that is worth mentioning is that the author does a most skillful job of painting clear, dramatic, and meaningful portraits of some of the key figures in this history. These include Thomas Jefferson, Pasha Yusuf Qaramanli and his brother Ahmad, William Eaton, Richard O'Brien, James Cathcart, Capt. William Bainbridge, Commodore Edward Preble, Captain Stephen Decatur, Jr., Marine Lt. Presley Neville O'Bannon, and several others.

Also, the action sequences are brisk and wonderfully handled. And throughout the writing style is clear, intelligent, and almost completely unobtrusive. In most every respect, "Victory in Tripoli" is a real pleasure to read.

My only "complaints" with this book are that (1) I would have preferred a clearer and more detailed map of the region and the principle harbors, and (2) I would have liked a little more detail on the French decision to invade Algiers in 1830 (this is obviously outside the scope of the author's focus, but a little more detail would still have been welcome). Also, (3) I would have liked some photographs of the USS Constitution that the author said in his lecture was still afloat and, I think, open for visitors in Boston. Finally, (4) I would have liked there to be a bit more detail on some of the other Marines involved in Eaton's march across the desert. None of these are serious problems, and I only thought of them while sitting down to write this, but I think it would have made the book even better.

As it stands, Mr. Joshua E. London has given us a wonderful history of America's wars with the Barbary Pirates, and one that will likely stand the test of time.

This would make a great Christmas gift to anyone interested in American history or to anyone interested in furthering their understanding of America's interaction with the Muslim world both then and now.

If you're anything like me the extent of your knowledge about the Barbary War is that Jefferson fought it and that it's commemorated in the Marine hymn: "...to the shores of Tripoli." Here though, presented in immensely readable fashion, is a history of what turn out to have been America's Barbary Wars, not just one war. Indeed, the fact that a subsequent war was required is just one of the ways that Joshua E. London ties the events of two hundred years ago, and of our first encounter with the Islamic world, into the events going on around us today. The parallels he draws help us both to understand the successes and failures of strategy in our own time and to relate better to our distant ancestors as they experience many of the same.

Though we refer to them as pirates, Mr. London shows that we might better think of the Barbary raiders as state-sponsored terrorists. Acting on behalf of the rulers of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers, they would harass Mediterranean shipping and capture boats and crews. Ships were converted to the state's use and crewmen essentially enslaved or both were held for ransom. The European nations had settled into an acceptance of this sort of outrage and paid regular tribute or protection money, but the young American nation, once it lost Britain's protection, could neither easily afford such payments nor abide by their moral taint. And so, especially under President Jefferson, the United States decided to pursue a unilateral policy of resisting the Barbary states, even to the point of attempted regime change. All that sounds familiar enough and redounds to our credit. However, this is also a story of bureaucratic turf wars and infighting, of feckless leaders, of a policy only haphazardly applied, and, in the most haunting parallel of all, of how the regime change was stopped just when it was about to work, thereby requiring a second, and definitive, war later under Jefferson's successor and political heir, James Madison.

The tragic figure who holds this tale together is William Eaton--a Captain in the Revolutionary War and later consul to Tunis--who pushes throughout for a sterner American response to Barbary provocations. In response to an early humiliation--when the U.S.S. George Washington was forced by Dey Bobba Mustafa to transport an embassy to Constantinople under the Algerine flag in October, 1800--he wrote:

"Genius of My country! How art thou prostrate! Hast thou not yet one son whose soul revolts, whose nerves convulse, blood vessels burst, and heart indignant swells at thought of such debasement?

Shade of Washington! Behold thy orphan'd sword hang on a slave--A voluntary slave, and serve a Pirate!....Shall Tunis also lift his thievish arm, smite our scarred cheek, then bid us kiss the rod! This is the price of peace! But if we will have peace at such a price, recall me, and send a slave, accustomed to abasement, to represent the nation.... History shall tell that the United States first volunteered a ship of war, equipped, a carrier for a pirate. ... Frankly I own, I would have lost the peace, and been impaled myself rather than yielded this concession. Will nothing rouse my country!"

Eaton was to be more fortunate than the modern counterpart he eerily summons up: John O'Neill, FBI agent John O'Neill, whose warnings about al Qaeda went for nought and who perished in the WTC on 9-11, having just taken over as head of security there. Eaton did get to see his nation heed his warnings and returned home a hero after the first Barbary War. But the mission he led, to recruit Ahmad Qaramanli for a revolt against his brother, the Tripolitine leader, Pasha Yusuf Qaramanli, was abandoned just as it seemed about to succeed in the first American-led regime change. He managed to rescue Ahmad and remained his friend for years, but was left embittered by the experience, took to drink, and died a broken man in 1811. This makes his legacy all the more poignant:

"During the war with Tripoli, the United States began to test William Eaton's hypothesis that fighting back and protecting the national honor and the national interest with force was the best way to end Barbary piracy. Just at the moment of triumph, however, President Thomas Jefferson wavered and settled on the side of expediency. Jefferson's lack of resolve left American interests unguarded, and once again, American trade felt the Barbary terror. By 1816, however, the United States finally proved that William Eaton was right. This success ignited the imagination of the Old World powers to rise up against the Barbary pirates.

In late August 1816, a combined British and Dutch fleet under the command of Lord Exmouth (formerly Sir Edward Pellew) followed the example of Commodore Stephen Decatur, forcing a peace at the mouth of a cannon. This armada unleashed hell upon Algiers, destroying most of the coastal side of the city, as well as most of its navy and marina. The dey accepted all of Lord Exmouth's demands. More than eleven hundred Christian captives were released from slavery, and the dey agreed to abolish Christian slavery in Algiers forever."

Nice to be right, but best to live to see it.

The degree to which the war(s) connects to our own times necessarily suggests that we apply its lessons today. This seems all the more important when we recall that almost all of our other wars follow the pattern: only reluctantly entered into and then left unfinished. It's too late for us to start the War on Terror on our own initiative--9/11 saw to that. But we can, just this once, refuse to let up in the war until it's truly won. In this instance that will mean getting liberal democratic reform going in every single Middle Eastern state and denying al Qaeda the safe havens it still enjoys in Western Pakistan. Let's not leave another William Eaton to be proved right in retrospect.

"Victory in Tripoli" is an compelling account of the new American nation's first foreign adventure. This book is an excellent history of the United States first foreign military campaign, and a valuable contribution to the understanding of America's early history. Mr. London has captured the drama and adventure of this period and the personalities that shaped it.

Mr. London deserves kudos not only for so convincingly presenting his case but making such a good read out of it. London is a skilled writer, an excellent historian and a good storyteller. "Victory in Tripoli" is a compelling story of the birth of America and how it projected its power abroad for the first time. One hopes that "Victory in Tripoli" will become one of the definitive sources on this topic.

Highly recommended.

The book deftly relates America's struggle with the Barbary Pirates, telling a fascinating and relatively forgotten chapter of American history. Even without any background on the history of America's war with the Barbary pirates, a couple of pages into London's book, I was hooked for the long haul. Not only is the book highly informative, it handles the issue of Muslim piracy threatening and terrorizing non-Muslims very intelligently. The book doesn't get mired in current political battles or ideology, but there is a clear historical parallel to what it going on today in America's war against terror.

In a sense, this book is a history about America's first war against Islamic-fundamentalism-fueled terrorism, and it carries with it many lessons relevant to our struggle today.

Americans now take trade and all its benefits for granted. We buy American flags from China, television sets made in Malaysia, computer chips constructed in Costa Rica, and travel across the country in airplanes often made in Europe. Our oil can come from the Middle East or Southeast Asia, electricity sometimes from Canada, non-seasonal fruits from Chile, cement and building materials from Mexico, and so on and so forth.

But two hundred years ago, this kind of trade could not be taken for granted -- and not because of taxes, tariffs or French duties on Wisconsin cheese, but becuase of violence on the high seas. American merchants seeking Mediterranean markets for American goods, and the newest European gadgets, fabrics and perfumes for import to the new American states, took on one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, because of the very real threat of pirates harbored by the Barbary states.

Arrrrrh!

Seriously. This Mediterranean mafia thuggery of the early 19th Century had a profound impact both comercially and geopolitically. Americans, recently on their own and, ironically, without the "protection" of King George, were forced into serious isolation by a band of thuggish terrorists, hell bent on booty and with their very own protectorate.

How to deal?

As we deal now: With the United States Marine Corps.

Josh London has woven a rich, exciting history of an era with so many ties to our own. Victory in Tripoli reads like a novel and deserves to be studied widely on our 200th anniversary of victory on the high seas. Enjoy it!

Josh London has produced a rock solid and fascinating history that tells one of the more exciting stories of our early republic. The campaign in Tripoli birthed the Marine Corps, announced America as an international power, and is notable as a blot on the escutcheon of Thomas Jefferson, one of our greatest presidents. And eerily, it happens to be a America's first encounter with terrorism as a young nation, making it more relevant than ever.

An amazing adventure tale involving pirates, daring military and Naval missions, and substantial diplomatic and political intrigue, the tale of Tripoli also has the added benefit of being a true story.

Of the handful of books written on the subject, London's is the one to start with. It's been favorably commented on by both Bernard Cornwell (of the Sharpe's adventure series) and Admiral William Crowe of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Between the two of them, one could safely say they know both adventure tales and Naval history. London's book doesn't dissapoint on either front.

What a riveting read! Joshua E. London deftly weaves the fascinating stories that took place on three continents into an action-packed U.S. triumph for the ages.

As Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr. put it: "Anyone with even a passing interest in Naval history, or U.S. history in general, should read this book." I couldn't agree more, but I wanted to add that London's depiction truly highlights the value of the US Marine Corps, not only in our early history, but also to the Marines' role today. Let us not forget that the Marines are always at the forefront of our country's defense overseas. The Devil Dogs are the United States' elite expeditionary force, and their early combat heritage in the Mediterranean is richly detailed by London.

As such, I can't better Bernard Cornwell's description of Victory in Tripoli: "a tale of piracy, heroism, disaster, triumph and American exceptionalism. A wonderful story, filling a gap in the history of the early republic. A terrific book!"

Mr. London deserves thanks and recognition for such an engaging work.

--Semper Fi--

Having read several historical novels of late, it occurs to me that one thing they most all lack is a proper story arc. For example, in a typical pirate biography Pirate A was born, raised, raids this city, raids that ship, yaddy-yaddy-yadda, and then dies. Real life rarely offers the proper format of dramatic elements that make for traditional storytelling, which can make for historical novels that are sometimes a bit winding and seemingly aimless.

No such danger with Victory in Tripoli - we have both a protagonist and an antagonist, a beginning, middle, and even an exciting conclusion. And we of course have pirates - it's all here!

Long before the United Stated won its independence, the Barbary Nations had established a unique relationship with the major European powers - namely that of terror, extortion, and downright piracy. Not that the likes of Tripoli and Algiers could stand long against a full-on assault from any major navy, but apparently it had been determined that a war with the Muslims would be more costly than it was worth, and so the politics of pacification won out - resulting in countless annual bribes, gifts, and "tribute" given from across Europe to the various Muslim leaders.

Following the United States' birth, it was originally determined most expedient to follow suit. But as the Barbary Nations' demands increased, some American leaders began to consider the possibility that it might be cheaper (and more honorable) to simply build a navy and squelch the miscreants. It would likely have gone rather well from the get-go, except for all the politics, hand-wringing, and at times, straight-up incompetence which stalled out the war effort nearly each time it began to bear fruit.

"Victory in Tripoli" is a fascinating account of one of America's most important - and most forgotten - early conflicts. Author Joshua London paints a vivid picture of the issues of the day and the personalities that ultimately shaped this piece of history. The material is aided by the fact that it feels so relevant - a war of mixed popularity with a Muslim nation aggravated by back-biting politicians is hardly unfamiliar territory - but London carefully leaves the reader to draw their own comparisons, thus keeping this book remarkably clear of the taint of current political temperaments.

A fun, timely, and deeply informative read.

If you love history told with nuance and energy, buy this book. _Victory in Tripoli_ falls into battle formation with a long train of excellent historical works-showing its colors in the same readable and insightful style as historians David McCullough, Joseph J. Ellis, and Stephen Ambrose.

Like Churchill, author Joshua E. London sees great value in studying the past, in depth and with passion. He charts a flawless course back to the early 19th century and does so seeking a complete accounting of the diplomatic maneuvers, military daring, and political realities and mind-boggling blunders of the time.

_Victory in Tripoli_ (hereafter just _Victory_) tells the story of America's first war with the Barbary Pirates-or as we see it in the light of today's events-the first encounter with militant jihadism and the Islamic way of war with the West.

Amazon.com has a "surprise me" function to give you a slice of the writing and content. However, if you have any doubts about what's in store for you in _Victory_ I suggest you go to page 102 to 103 as the American _Enterprize_ engages the pirate's _Tripoli_, in one of the earliest instances in which our new nation raised the Stars and Stripes and loosed a volley of gunfire in order to project our power to prevent the kidnap and murder of American hostages:

"This melee raged over the next three hours, as the two ships valiantly assaulted each other. Ra'is Muhammad Rous tried to ram the Enterprize, but Sterrett outmaneuvered the Tripoli while maintaining continuous fire. The Tripoli's guns fired sporadically, the Enterprize's in concentrated, timed, rapid, disciplined broadsides. Unable to outgun or outmaneuver the American ship, the Tripoli tried to swing alongside and board, the traditional Barbary tactic. The pirates made at least three attempts to board the American vessel, but each time they were repulsed as Sterrett's marines swept the Tripoli's deck with musket fire, mowing down the Tripolitans and cutting away their grappling hooks.

"The Enterprize's marines were able to keep the pirates off her decks while her guns pounded the Tripoli. The Tripolitan pirates made several attempts to strike her colors in mock surrender in an effort to fool Lieutenant Sterrett into lowering his guard, but each time the ruse failed. Finally, after the third such attempt, Sterrett repeatedly fired broadsides into her, raking her deck, smashing her masts, and pounding through her hull at the waterline.

"The precision training of the American crew provided that all six guns would discharge in unison. Seemingly without pause, Sterrett's gunnery crew would load, fire, clean, prep, reload, and fire, again and again, and each time a broadside of six powerful, concentrated blasts would smash into the Tripoli. Quickly, the enemy ship became enveloped in smoke, debris, splintering wood, shrapnel, flying limbs, blood, tears, confusion, and fear. All the while Sterrett's marines unleashed and maintained a steady barrage of killing force against any who stood upon the Tripoli's decks."

What makes _Victory_ so engaging is the fact that the diplomatic aspects of the war against the Barbary pirates are dealt with as expertly as those trained gunners on the Enterprize. London loads, fires, preps, and reloads again and again. He shows just how outspoken and dead set the Islamic powers were against the upstart American nation in prosecuting their war-and how that way of war is influenced by the religious worldview of militant Islam. The Barbary pirate-like today's foe-was clear in every form of media about the whys and hows of their objectives.

London does not drill point this home crudely. He leaves it for the savvy reader to draw the conclusions from the past and apply it himself to the issues of today.

Nevertheless, _Victory_ marches on implacably with a force equal to the subject, revealing the spirit of America at the time, our unstinting love for freedom, and the struggle to engage an elusive enemy thousands of miles away.

Joshua E. London has triumphed in his own way, making _Victory_ an excellent and engaging gift for any serious reader of military, political, and diplomatic history who hopes the past can guide us into a better future.

I just finished reading this excellent volume of history...wow! The book has plenty of timely overtones and nuances to it, yet is totally free of explicit contemporary political views or commentary. The material seems totally fresh and genuinely informative, even though it is dealing with events that took place over two hundred years ago.

The book is really well written, with all sorts of fascinating facets and characters. I thought I knew more about America's first encounter with the Arabs than I actually did, and I learned a great deal more about the North African pirates than I otherwise knew...and I know a heck of a lot about pirates. I mean PIRATES! ARRRRGH!

"Victory in Tripoli" is well worth picking up, and will prove hard to put down. :)