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 89
Page 2
... going into his first decisive single-ship action, against HMS Drake, his crew had almost mutinied. Jones had bullied and cajoled the men into obedience. On this cruise, one of his captains, an irascible, addled 2 JOHN PAUL JONES.
... going into his first decisive single-ship action, against HMS Drake, his crew had almost mutinied. Jones had bullied and cajoled the men into obedience. On this cruise, one of his captains, an irascible, addled 2 JOHN PAUL JONES.
Page 18
... crew leaning over the leeward rail to vomit. Melville called seasickness "that dreadful thing." Abigail Adams described it as "that most disheartening, dispiriting malady.... No person, who is a stranger to the sea, can form an adequate ...
... crew leaning over the leeward rail to vomit. Melville called seasickness "that dreadful thing." Abigail Adams described it as "that most disheartening, dispiriting malady.... No person, who is a stranger to the sea, can form an adequate ...
Page 19
... crew of twenty-eight, large for a merchantman but far fewer than the ship's company aboard a man-of-war of comparable size. Merchants tried to squeeze every last penny out of their ships. Carrying the bare minimum of crewmen and ...
... crew of twenty-eight, large for a merchantman but far fewer than the ship's company aboard a man-of-war of comparable size. Merchants tried to squeeze every last penny out of their ships. Carrying the bare minimum of crewmen and ...
Page 22
... crew of six and, chained in the hold, according to one manifest, a cargo of "77 Negroes from Africa."John Paul sailed the infamous "middle passage" between Africa and the slave plantations of the Caribbean. "Slaves were stowed, heel and ...
... crew of six and, chained in the hold, according to one manifest, a cargo of "77 Negroes from Africa."John Paul sailed the infamous "middle passage" between Africa and the slave plantations of the Caribbean. "Slaves were stowed, heel and ...
Page 23
... crew. Mungo Maxwell tested John Paul's shallow well of patience, mouthing off at him, shirking duty, and doing his work sloppily, which particularly incensed the meticulous Captain Paul. His "mildness" quickly spent, John Paul ordered ...
... crew. Mungo Maxwell tested John Paul's shallow well of patience, mouthing off at him, shirking duty, and doing his work sloppily, which particularly incensed the meticulous Captain Paul. His "mildness" quickly spent, John Paul ordered ...
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 |
Other editions - View all
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