By Paul Carrier
When it comes to nautical fiction, Britannia rules the waves. Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, the two best-known heroes to be found in 20th-century contributions to the genre, are British officers who set sail during the Napoleonic Wars. Richard Bolitho and Nicholas Ramage, the protagonists in other well-known seafaring tales, serve in the Royal Navy as well.
But what about heroes from this side of the pond? American authors whose novels feature Americans at sea, such as Maine’s James L. Nelson, often focus on the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. Now comes James L. Haley with The Shores of Tripoli, a novel with a different setting.
As the title suggests, The Shores of Tripoli focuses on the American campaign against the Barbary pirates. It begins in 1801 when our hero, Bliven Putnam, a farm boy from Connecticut, finds himself serving as a midshipman aboard the schooner USS Enterprise as it sails into the Mediterranean, and history, under the command of Lt. Andrew Sterett.
Putnam and his friend, Sam Bandy, distinguish themselves when the Enterprise fires the opening shots of the First Barbary War and captures the corsair Tripoli, which Sterett releases because his orders prohibit him from taking prizes.
The two intrepid midshipmen are quickly promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and eventually find themselves reassigned to the USS Constitution as Commodore Edward Preble of Maine (then still a part of Massachusetts) takes charge of a large American squadron in the Mediterranean.
The Constitution, lovingly known these days as Old Ironsides, was and is quite real, of course. (The ship’s surgeon in The Shores of Tripoli provides a wonderfully detailed tour of her decks.) So are many of the characters in the novel, which fictionalizes actual events while remaining generally faithful to the facts.
“I steered the story as close to fact” as possible, Haley, whose books include biographies of Sam Houston and Jack London, writes in the acknowledgments. “Rather than tell a story and hang history on it like Christmas ornaments, my approach was to line up the history and weave a story through it.”
The real-life Enterprise did, indeed, defeat the Tripoli, on Aug. 1, 1801. Preble did, indeed, sail the Constitution from Boston, on Aug. 14, 1803, bound for the Mediterranean to assume overall command of several American warships there. And so it goes, as the novel explores additional exploits chronicled in the historical record.
This is an adventure yarn, but The Shores of Tripoli isn’t all blazing broadsides. Putnam is a fully realized character: bold in battle, but thoughtful and reflective as well, a book lover and history buff who strikes up a romantic relationship with a young woman in his native Litchfield, Connecticut.
Haley works quite a bit of background information into the novel, which provides insight into several aspects of life in early 19th-century America, touching on such subjects as slavery, conflicting religious attitudes toward the celebration of Christmas, and differing regional outlooks on the presidential politics of the day.
The Shores of Tripoli includes a very helpful map of the Mediterranean, circa 1804, and two full-page illustrations of the Constitution that identify her sails and decks. Although Haley does not go in for the heavy use of nautical terms, he has included a six-page glossary that will help landlubbers differentiate a xebec from a polacca.
Haley has indicated that The Shores of Tripoli is supposed to be the first entry in a series, although I haven’t seen any details yet on a sequel. He writes on his web site that he envisions “eight interlocking novels” that follow Putnam right up until the Civil War, “when he would be a white-haired old commodore.”
But what about heroes from this side of the pond? American authors whose novels feature Americans at sea, such as Maine’s James L. Nelson, often focus on the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. Now comes James L. Haley with The Shores of Tripoli, a novel with a different setting.
As the title suggests, The Shores of Tripoli focuses on the American campaign against the Barbary pirates. It begins in 1801 when our hero, Bliven Putnam, a farm boy from Connecticut, finds himself serving as a midshipman aboard the schooner USS Enterprise as it sails into the Mediterranean, and history, under the command of Lt. Andrew Sterett.
Putnam and his friend, Sam Bandy, distinguish themselves when the Enterprise fires the opening shots of the First Barbary War and captures the corsair Tripoli, which Sterett releases because his orders prohibit him from taking prizes.
The two intrepid midshipmen are quickly promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and eventually find themselves reassigned to the USS Constitution as Commodore Edward Preble of Maine (then still a part of Massachusetts) takes charge of a large American squadron in the Mediterranean.
The Constitution, lovingly known these days as Old Ironsides, was and is quite real, of course. (The ship’s surgeon in The Shores of Tripoli provides a wonderfully detailed tour of her decks.) So are many of the characters in the novel, which fictionalizes actual events while remaining generally faithful to the facts.
“I steered the story as close to fact” as possible, Haley, whose books include biographies of Sam Houston and Jack London, writes in the acknowledgments. “Rather than tell a story and hang history on it like Christmas ornaments, my approach was to line up the history and weave a story through it.”
The real-life Enterprise did, indeed, defeat the Tripoli, on Aug. 1, 1801. Preble did, indeed, sail the Constitution from Boston, on Aug. 14, 1803, bound for the Mediterranean to assume overall command of several American warships there. And so it goes, as the novel explores additional exploits chronicled in the historical record.
This is an adventure yarn, but The Shores of Tripoli isn’t all blazing broadsides. Putnam is a fully realized character: bold in battle, but thoughtful and reflective as well, a book lover and history buff who strikes up a romantic relationship with a young woman in his native Litchfield, Connecticut.
Haley works quite a bit of background information into the novel, which provides insight into several aspects of life in early 19th-century America, touching on such subjects as slavery, conflicting religious attitudes toward the celebration of Christmas, and differing regional outlooks on the presidential politics of the day.
The Shores of Tripoli includes a very helpful map of the Mediterranean, circa 1804, and two full-page illustrations of the Constitution that identify her sails and decks. Although Haley does not go in for the heavy use of nautical terms, he has included a six-page glossary that will help landlubbers differentiate a xebec from a polacca.
Haley has indicated that The Shores of Tripoli is supposed to be the first entry in a series, although I haven’t seen any details yet on a sequel. He writes on his web site that he envisions “eight interlocking novels” that follow Putnam right up until the Civil War, “when he would be a white-haired old commodore.”
Sounds like a rousing adventure in a genre I'm not very familiar with (naval heroics). And an expedition equally so except for its passing reference in the Marines Hymn. I really enjoyed seeing Old Ironsides on our trip to Boston...:)
ReplyDeleteShe's in dry dock now, undergoing restoration work that should be completed in 2018.
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