Description

This is a rollicking sea story of the American naval officers who proudly called themselves “Preble’s Boys.” They took their ships to a distant station to defend the new Republic. They cowed the Tripolitans and impressed the British. Finally, Stephen Decatur and the rest of Preble’s Boys got their due. Their adventures and courageous acts challenge Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower and they are all the more impressive because their story is true. White’s skill as a novelist and his passion for historical accuracy put him on a course with Patrick O’Brian.

—William Fowler, Ph.D., Director Massachusetts Historical Society