The Pirate Coast cover art

The Pirate Coast

Thomas Jefferson, The First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805

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The Pirate Coast

By: Richard Zacks
Narrated by: Raymond Todd
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About this listen

After Tripoli declared war on the United States in 1801, Barbary pirates captured 300 U.S. sailors and marines. President Jefferson sent navy squadrons to the Mediterranean, but he also authorized a secret mission to overthrow the government of Tripoli. He chose an unlikely diplomat, William Eaton, to lead the mission, but before Eaton departed, Jefferson grew wary of the affair and withdrew his support.

Astoundingly, Eaton persevered, gathering a ragtag army, including eight U.S. Marines, and leading them on a brutal march across 500 miles of desert. After surviving sandstorms, treachery, and near death from thirst, Eaton achieved a remarkable victory on "the shores of Tripoli", as commemorated in the Marine Corps Hymn. His triumph gained freedom for the American hostages and newfound respect for the young United States, but for Eaton, the aftermath wasn't sweet. When he dared to reveal that the president had abandoned him, Jefferson set out to crush him.

©2005 Richard Zacks (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks
19th Century Africa Civilization Europe Higher & Continuing Education Military Naval Forces United States Young Adult Pirate War Imperialism
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Critic reviews

"Zacks has researched thoroughly, writes entertainingly, and shows a knack for sea stories and characterization. This is the book that Captain Eaton has long deserved." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Zacks does an expert job of explaining the diplomacy and machinations of the U.S. government....Where Zacks excels is in his research, quipping asides, and loving grasp of the subject" ( Kirkus Reviews)

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Simply outstanding and fascinating

What a great book.

We all have heard the lyrics: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli".
Some of us are aware that the US marines at some point raided the Barbary Pirates.

Few of us have heard this utterly amazing tale of how that happened, and the fascinating and driven man who led what is an adventure to rival the 300 Spartans or the African Queen.

The spying, conniving, dedication, loyalty and sheer bizarreness of this story makes for great reading. Thomas Jefferson "Great man" comes away looking not-so-great and the flawed hero of the tale, remains largely forgotten.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting book, some narration problems

I found this book very interstin and Richard Zacks clearly has heavily resaerched the diaries letters and documents of the people involved which provided a great deal of insight into a barely covered period. A slight flaw is that Zacks has a tendency to over amplify the importance of the events impact which is apparent when you realise he is talking about the actions of a US Navy that is in its entirity smaller then then fleets that fought at the contemporary Battle of Trafalgar or a rebellin that relied on a doxen US marines at the same time as Napoleon was leading the Grande Armee to Austerlitz.

In truth the only real problem is that Raymond Todd the narrator does not know how to pronounce topgallant, forecastle, boatswain or cockswain in the correct navel way, instead he simply reads the word as it is written, ordinarily this would be a minor point but in a book so heavily concerend with ships and naval warfare it becomes very distracting and prevented this good book being 5* to me.

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