John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American NavyThe New York Times bestseller from master biographer Evan Thomas brings to life the tumultuous story of the father of the American Navy. John Paul Jones, at sea and in the heat of the battle, was the great American hero of the Age of Sail. He was to history what Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey and C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower are to fiction. Ruthless, indomitable, clever; he vowed to sail, as he put it, “in harm’s way.” Evan Thomas’s minute-by-minute re-creation of the bloodbath between Jones’s Bonhomme Richard and the British man-of-war Serapis off the coast of England on an autumn night in 1779 is as gripping a sea battle as can be found in any novel. Drawing on Jones’s correspondence with some of the most significant figures of the American Revolution—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson—Thomas’s biography teaches us that it took fighters as well as thinkers, men driven by dreams of personal glory as well as high-minded principle, to break free of the past and start a new world. Jones’s spirit was classically American. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 75
Page 5
... Franklin was entranced by the legend. In the mid-1920s, FDR wrote a perfectly awful screenplay treatment of Jones's life. (At a strategy meeting during World War II, FDR's aide, Harry Hopkins, had to interrupt the President as he ...
... Franklin was entranced by the legend. In the mid-1920s, FDR wrote a perfectly awful screenplay treatment of Jones's life. (At a strategy meeting during World War II, FDR's aide, Harry Hopkins, had to interrupt the President as he ...
Page 7
... Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. Franklin valued Jones's drive andnaval genius, though he scolded him for his self-absorption. During a tour as American minister to Paris, Thomas Jefferson performed one of the habitual duties of that ...
... Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. Franklin valued Jones's drive andnaval genius, though he scolded him for his self-absorption. During a tour as American minister to Paris, Thomas Jefferson performed one of the habitual duties of that ...
Page 16
... Franklin many years later. The navy could be a social ladder for some poor boys. Captain James Cooke, the great South Sea explorer, had been a laborer's son, and Horatio Nelson was born in a modest parsonage. But entering the navy's ...
... Franklin many years later. The navy could be a social ladder for some poor boys. Captain James Cooke, the great South Sea explorer, had been a laborer's son, and Horatio Nelson was born in a modest parsonage. But entering the navy's ...
Page 31
... Franklin only as "the Ringleader," was a "prodigious brute of thrice my strength," Paul wrote, who "neglected and even refused his duty with much insolence." Most mutinies of the era started over money, and this one was no different ...
... Franklin only as "the Ringleader," was a "prodigious brute of thrice my strength," Paul wrote, who "neglected and even refused his duty with much insolence." Most mutinies of the era started over money, and this one was no different ...
Page 33
... Franklin when he believed—mistakenly—that Franklin had somehow gotten wind of it. The fact is that John Paul had killed a man. Death was common enough, and severe discipline was routine on some ships, but few captains ran through their ...
... Franklin when he believed—mistakenly—that Franklin had somehow gotten wind of it. The fact is that John Paul had killed a man. Death was common enough, and severe discipline was routine on some ships, but few captains ran through their ...
Contents
1 | |
30 | |
Chapter Four | 67 |
Chapter Five | 87 |
Chapter | 113 |
Chapter Seven | 137 |
Chapter Eight | 168 |
Chapter | 199 |
Chapter Twelve | 235 |
Chapter Thirteen | 259 |
Chapter Fourteen | 279 |
Chapter Fifteen | 300 |
Acknowledgments | 313 |
Bibliography | 361 |
Photo Credits | 383 |
Chapter Eleven | 215 |
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Common terms and phrases
able aboard Adams Alliance American appeared arms arrived Bancroft battle become began Benjamin Franklin boat Bonhomme Richard British called captain carried close coast command Commissioners Committee Congress Continental crew deck enemy England English feelings fight fire fleet force France Franklin French frigate give guns hands head honor John Paul John Paul Jones Jones wrote Jones's JPJP JPJto July June L O C ladies Landais later letter Lieutenant London March Marine master Morison morning Morris naval navy needed never night officers once ordered Paris Pearson port Potemkin prisoners privateer prize Providence quarterdeck Ranger reported Robert Royal Russian sail sailors sent Serapis ship ship's side squadron Thomas tried turned wanted warship wind wish wounded