Read this book if you like swash buckling action and some lesser know post-Revolution American history. I love to read about Jefferson, but this book dwells on the great man only briefly. The main characters are the sea captains and the prisoners and the rulers who made Algeria, Tunis and Morroco what they were in the late 1700's early 1800's.
The book opens with the Capture of the Dauphin in 1785 who was taken prisoner for 10 years. The Maria was also captured too. Most of the Americans were taken prisoner and made to be Christian slaves. They could die of tropical diseases, work as slaves (many of the enlisted preformed hard labor, versus the officers that helped the ruling class out) or convert to Islam. Islamic people could not have other Islamic people as slaves.
The other interesting/scary factor was the amount of time it took for news to travel in the late 1700s. It could be up to 1 year for news to travel back (and forth) to the Executive branch of the government, the United States. Wow. Not like today's instant coffee world of the internet!
Peter Lisle --> Murat Rais
Philadelphia 300 people... taken prisoner
Bainbridge captained the ship
The book opens with the Capture of the Dauphin in 1785 who was taken prisoner for 10 years. The Maria was also captured too. Most of the Americans were taken prisoner and made to be Christian slaves. They could die of tropical diseases, work as slaves (many of the enlisted preformed hard labor, versus the officers that helped the ruling class out) or convert to Islam. Islamic people could not have other Islamic people as slaves.
The other interesting/scary factor was the amount of time it took for news to travel in the late 1700s. It could be up to 1 year for news to travel back (and forth) to the Executive branch of the government, the United States. Wow. Not like today's instant coffee world of the internet!
Peter Lisle --> Murat Rais
Philadelphia 300 people... taken prisoner
Bainbridge captained the ship
