Synopses & Reviews
“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 real-life
drama of intrigue, bravery, and battle on the high seas.
About the Author
Brian Kilmeade co-hosts Fox News Channel's morning show Fox and Friends and also hosts the nationally syndicated radio show Kilmeade and Friends. He lives on Long Island.
Don Yaeger has written or co-written twenty-three books, and lives in Tallahassee, Florida.