The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War against the Pirates of North Africa (Hardcover)

by Frederick C. Leiner (Author) "IN 1762, when the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau famously began The Social Contract with the observation that man, who was born free, is everywhere in chains,..." (more)
Key Phrases: strange brig, mortar vessels, navy commissioners, United States, New York, North Africa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This unevenly paced military history gives an exhaustive portrait of the little-known war waged by the United States to stop the enslaving of American sailors by north African pirates. For centuries prior to the 1815 war, the kingdoms of Algeria, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli engaged in a system of state-sponsored piracy, capturing ships cruising the Mediterranean (and even raiding coastal European villages) and using the captors-Leiner estimates as many as a million Europeans had been enslaved-for slave labor in their home ports. When American sailors became targets, the U.S. government could either pay the ransom or go to war. Leiner does an excellent job of describing the personalities involved and depicting the heated naval battles, but the U.S.'s decisive and nearly immediate success in a very short war undermines Leiner's story; once the battles are over, the narrative drifts into the dull terrain of treaties and diplomacy, and the parallels Leiner notes between Islamic terrorism then and now fail to gel into any larger conclusion. Leiner is a talented writer and researcher, but the little-known campaign he chronicles fizzles out too quickly.
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Review

"The book recounts a stunning military success. With a mix of bravery and luck, Decatur defeated two enemy ships on his way to Algiers. Within 48 hours of arriving on the shore of the most powerful Barbary state, Decatur was able to force peace on American terms ('dictated at the mouths of our cannon,' as he later said). The U.S.'s infant Navy had scored a victory that had eluded European powers for nearly three centuries."--Jonathan Karl, Wall Street Journal
"A fascinating account of what popular historians now refer to as America's first war against state-sponsored terrorism.... Leiner, drawing on everything from ship logs, journals, and love letters to published papers and official documents, writes of the squadron of ten ships that sailed into Barbary territory on June 17, 1815, and--in quick succession--defeated or captured the opposing Algerine warships."--Library Journal
"A solid study written in a lively style about the role of the U.S. Navy and State Department in terminating state-sponsored piracy in the Mediterranean."--The Journal of Military History
"Frederick C. Leiner's dramatic history of Stephen Decatur's mission to Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli in 1815 is not only a vivid narrative of America's largest and most successful overseas expedition during the Age of Sail, it is also an illuminating micro-history of the culture, politics, and personalities of America's first war against state-sponsored terror."--Craig L. Symonds, author of Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History
"Frederick Leiner's The End of Barbary Terror is not only an exciting and well-told sea story, but a well-researched reminder that with regard to transnational terrorism, the only thing new in the world is the history that you don't know."--Dr. John F. Lehman, former Secretary of the Navy and member of the 9/11 Commission, and author of On Seas of Glory: Heroic Men, Great Ships, and Epic Battles of the American Navy
"Frederick Leiner has taken an almost forgotten moment in early U.S. history--the 1812 capture by Algerines of an obscure Yankee sailing brig--and by focusing exclusively on that incident and the events deriving from it has woven a remarkably complex yet totally coherent tapestry of the times. There are heroes and villains galore, mysterious secret agents and conniving heads of state; there are wars and other international crises, numerous historical set pieces and acts of derring-do. All told, there's enough spectacle and drama to satisfy any reader."--James Tertius de Kay, author of A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN


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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; illustrated edition edition (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195189949
• ISBN-13: 978-0195189940
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #755,717 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A interesting look at a rather unkown naval war, September 10, 2006

By	Art (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

A rich and detailed look at an obscure event in U.S. naval history. "The End of Barbary Terror" describes a rather dashing adventure by a young U.S. Navy fresh off the Battle of 1812 with the British. Despite these challenges a band of brash and confident officers deployed the bulk of the U.S. fleet to the Med to destroy the Algerian Fleet and force the return of U.S. hostages and the end of payments to Algeria.

The book proves that the U.S. has been combating Islamic forces since its earlier days. While this was a very different war, certain similar ties between then and now can be seen

The author spends considerable team telling not only the operational naval portions of the battle, which were not exactly very exciting, but he focuses on the complicated political battles between naval leadership and national politicians. The author's naval knowledge seemed solid, but the description focus mainly on the officers, little is known or discussed about the rest of the crew. The same can be said of the Algerians. The great majority of sources were American, so what was going through the minds of Algerian leadership and naval officers could only be guessed.

The British Attack on Algiers was well done, and more riveting then the rather limited engagements between the U.S. and Algeria described earlier in the book. I recommend this book to any serious reader of naval history, who enjoys diving into the deep details of the U.S. Navy circa 1815.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely well-written, informative, and insightful, June 17, 2006

By	Gary H. Cassel "Flamingnet.com" (Baltimore, MD, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you like American historical nonfiction than this is a must read about a period in our history that has a lot of relevance to today. Fred Leiner brilliantly leads the reader through a time when a young America, after the War of 1812, looks to expand its trade but falls prey to the pirates of North Africa. Following unsuccessful diplomatic efforts, America feeling bold after the war, sets out to put an end to this state-sponsored Barbary terrorism at the hands of the Muslims of North Africa.

As the story unfolds, the reader finds that they are caught up in a complex political and military drama hampered by slow communications, egos, prejudices, and traditions. Mr. Leiner does an excellent job methodically and carefully unfolding the story, while at the same time thoroughly develops the participants and the dynamics among them. In several areas, he also challenges and explores past notions about events and decisions, venturing to offer his own opinions based upon his research and insight. From the beginning of the book, to the epilogue, Mr. Leiner has done a masterful job of giving us a thorough look at a very exciting and important brief period in American history that had a major impact on our developing nation.

I highly recommend this book, particularly to people perplexed by modern day terrorism. History certainly does have a way of repeating itself.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real-life pirate story, March 22, 2007

By	mrliteral - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

While many might believe that the American entanglement with the Islamic world began with the first Iraq War, or at the earliest, the founding of Israel, we have actually been fighting with this area of the world much longer, even as far back as the first years of the United States. Of course, there are many differences between this early conflict and our current ones, so historical comparisons should not be too easily made between our current war and the one against the Barbary Terror, as chronicled by Frederic Leiner.

One significant difference is location: instead of the Middle East, the Barbary pirates operated in North Africa, particularly in the Barbary states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli (the last with the famous shores of Tripoli). These pirates (or corsairs) actually worked for the local states, making them more akin to privateers. The goal was simple: steal the goods on merchant ships and enslave the crewmen, with the intention of ransoming them. There was an alternative, however: paying an annual tribute to each state, or what may now be thought of as protection money.

The Barbary states did rather well with this system, terrorizing the ships of the Mediterranean. Few seemed willing to do anything about the corsairs. This changed at the conclusion of the War of 1812, when James Madison authorized a war against the largest (and most duplicitous) state, Algiers. Led by naval war hero Stephen Decatur, a fleet would soon force Algiers into capitulation; what was worse for the Barbary states was their façade of strength was broken, and soon the world power England would turn its wrath towards these countries (which were technically part of the Ottoman Empire).

Another big difference with our current conflicts is the softening effect of time. With two centuries having gone by, the Barbary states seem more exotic than evil. Although generally a nasty lot, nowadays corsairs tend to be romanticized like all pirates (as the success of Pirates of the Caribbean attests). There has even been a casino called the Barbary Coast; I think it will be quite a few years till we are able to look nostalgically back at Sadaam Hussein and start naming hotels after his regime.

Leiner does a nice job of writing, as his title states, of the End of the Barbary Terror. This is, in a way, an adventure story that we already know the end of. It is also, despite the fact that it is almost forgotten nowadays, an important chapter in American history, and represents our first real military rout of an opponent. Leiner tells a good story and puts it in the proper historical context; if you enjoy reading about American or naval history, this is a book to read.