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 88
Page 1
... ship Bonhomme Richard, first sighted his Brittanic Majesty's Ship Serapis at 3 P.M. on September 23, 1779. The Serapis was about ten miles away. The wind was light, a gentle southwest breeze, and in the rush of the tide off of ...
... ship Bonhomme Richard, first sighted his Brittanic Majesty's Ship Serapis at 3 P.M. on September 23, 1779. The Serapis was about ten miles away. The wind was light, a gentle southwest breeze, and in the rush of the tide off of ...
Page 2
... ship in a vise, hammering her from both sides, or run along in line of battle, discharging broadside after broadside before the enemy could reload. The British warships were protecting a convoy of more than forty British merchantmen ...
... ship in a vise, hammering her from both sides, or run along in line of battle, discharging broadside after broadside before the enemy could reload. The British warships were protecting a convoy of more than forty British merchantmen ...
Page 9
... ship was battered, burning, and sinking. When one of Jones's petty officers did try to haul down the ship's flag to halt the carnage, Jones threw a pistol at his head. Jones's all-out drive for victory, no matter the odds, no matter the ...
... ship was battered, burning, and sinking. When one of Jones's petty officers did try to haul down the ship's flag to halt the carnage, Jones threw a pistol at his head. Jones's all-out drive for victory, no matter the odds, no matter the ...
Page 18
... ship over on her beam ends and tear the sails from her spars. A wooden ship rigged with rope and canvas is like a living organism: it creaks and sighs and groans. In a gale, it screams. Belowdecks in all weathers, the ship stank from ...
... ship over on her beam ends and tear the sails from her spars. A wooden ship rigged with rope and canvas is like a living organism: it creaks and sighs and groans. In a gale, it screams. Belowdecks in all weathers, the ship stank from ...
Page 19
... ship, John Paul was sent aloft to learn how to reef and furl the sails. Creeping out along a single rope far above the deck and leaning over to gather wet and sometimes frozen canvas flailing and snapping in the wind was not for the ...
... ship, John Paul was sent aloft to learn how to reef and furl the sails. Creeping out along a single rope far above the deck and leaning over to gather wet and sometimes frozen canvas flailing and snapping in the wind was not for the ...
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