Other editions of book The Barbary Pirates

They were the most brutal, cunning and adventurous pirates on the face of the earth. Wherever they marauded, men sailed in terror and rich merchantmen feared for their cargoes. For two thousand years they plundered the seas from their lairs along the coast of North Africa—until the tiny, ill-equipped Navy of the new-born United States set out to blast them out of the seas.In this dramatic reconstruction of one of the most exciting periods in naval history, Forester tells the story of the pirates, their incredible raids and the men who finally brought about their downfall. Though basically written for younger readers, THE BARBARY PIRATES will appeal to all lovers of sea stories.—Back Cover.

The Barbary pirates came from the four North African countries of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli — known as the Barbary States. What began as Mohammedans making war on Christians, turned into centuries of raids on merchant vessels, and forced slavery. Only a year after America and England signed the peace of 1783, the American merchant brig, Betsey, was captured by a Moroccan warship. As a result, the United States Navy was born and the young country began its war on piracy in the Mediterranean. Joshua Humphreys came forward with the best designs for ships which were built to endure both battle and storm, full of power and speed. Ships such as the Constitution, the Intrepid, the United States, the Constellation, the Enterprise and many more were sent out to sea. C. S. Forester brings to life many young captains, including Morris, Preble, Decatur and Eaton who overcame many obstacles to help their country. Finally, after more than thirty years, and the efforts of all the civilized nations, peace and security was made permanent.

C.S. Forester, creator of the beloved Horatio Hornblower series, takes young readers on an exciting adventure to the shores of Tripoli in North Africa. That’s where, more than 200 years ago, the United States was threatened by “pirates” who snatched American merchant ships and imprisoned sailors—and the country’s young, untested navy took on the task of fighting the pirates in their home waters.This true tale features thrilling ocean battles, hand-to-hand combat, and the first landing on foreign soil by the U.S. Marines, and it’s as fresh and relevant today as when it was first published (1953).

In The Barbary Pirates, C.S. Forester, naval historian and creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower, tells the little-known and exciting story of the death-blow given by our infant navy to the pirates of North Africa. It is a strange story, that seems stranger still when we remember that but for a handful of not-too-efficient pirates, our great navy might never have existed!"

This is the story of America's first steps onto the world stage: her fight against the Barbary pirates. C.S. Forester, grand master of the naval adventure novel, here writes not a novel, but simply a story, of young America's struggle to gain freedom of the seas against a harsh and cruel enemy that was seizing American ships and enslaving American sailors. The rest of the world had put up with this state of affairs literally for centuries. America, armed with resolve but no money, and virtually no navy, determined to end it. Forester does not gloss over the difficulties and the folly that America committed along the way as it tried to figure out how to end the menace of the Barbary Pirates. We tried to buy them off, but they couldn't be bought off, and these efforts endgendered contempt and even more depredations against American ships and men. American politicians, even the great Jefferson, feared establishing a powerful Navy on the theory that such a Navy might become a threat to the young Republic's liberty by bringing forth tyrants. This quaint theory would cause young America endless problems, both with the war against the pirates, and later in the War of 1812 against Britain. Forester writes in a crisp narrative that completely holds the reader's interest, and he tells a complicated story in a manner that gets his point across without burying the reader in detail. This is a short, sharp book that tells a great story from the early history of America and which holds lessons that are relevant to today's events and problems. As Forester notes, every country at some time or another in its history brings forth an unusually large number of particularly gifted and great men