The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 (edit title)

• Rated 4 stars

“In many ways a good rollicking tale of adventure, intrigues, lies, and stupidity. I learnt a lot.”

• Rated 4 stars

“A true story of how an american brought the Barbary Pirates to their knees.”

• Rated 5 stars

“This is one of those stories that NEVER makes it into our history books. WHY? It is a great great story! I can't believe it hasn't been made into a movie! I make my kids study this story in class. It also connects very nicely to Aaron Burr (another person usually overlooked in our history books).”

• Rated 4 stars

“Tenia F said: Rated: 4 stars
It definitely was a good read. Not exactly a 'fast' read but informative.”

• Rated 1 stars

“The time wasn't right for me to read a history to the n'th degree. I wanted the story but didn't want to invest in the undergraduate credit necessary to obtain it. Perhaps another semester.”

• Rated 2 stars

“This is the birth of the Marine Corps and it shows how we have actually been invovled in the middle east for quite a while now.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Although this book has little to do with pirates, it is a fascinating account of one of the United States first covert missions. In the early 1800s, Americans were being held as slaves by the pasha (bashaw in Zack’s book) of Tripoli; the enslaved sailors were forced to work all day with little food. President Jefferson was looking at a diplomatic resolution containing a private clause that would have the young United States paying ransom and a tribute. However, a disgraced diplomat, William Eaton, does not want the United States to pay a ransom or tribute and devises one of the first covert missions in United States history. Eaton’s trek across the Sahara towards Tripoli is immortalized in the Marines’ Hymn (“From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli . . .”), but Zack’s book tells the real story of the first covert mission of the United States Marine Corp. Zacks’ books has a narrative feel to it, which makes it for interesting reading, but be aware of the snippets of modern-day comparison and commentary Zacks places throughout the book. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“With a marginal comission from from President Jefferson, Eaton begs and borrows enough money for a motley crew of Moslem and Christian mercenaries to cross the desert from Egypt to make a land attack against the pirates of Tripoli who hold 180 American Naval men hostage.

Well researched and fascinating.”