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. |
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Page 1
... wind was light, a gentle southwest breeze, and in the rush of the tide off of Flamborough Head on England's east coast, the two ships crept toward each other. No captain of an American navy ship had ever defeated and captured a British ...
... wind was light, a gentle southwest breeze, and in the rush of the tide off of Flamborough Head on England's east coast, the two ships crept toward each other. No captain of an American navy ship had ever defeated and captured a British ...
Page 11
... wind up, as he put it, as a "grov'ling" clerk. Both dandies wrote poetry and preened for the ladies. Both Hamilton and Jones knew the surest way to get ahead. "I wish there was a war," Hamilton wrote when he was fourteen years old ...
... wind up, as he put it, as a "grov'ling" clerk. Both dandies wrote poetry and preened for the ladies. Both Hamilton and Jones knew the surest way to get ahead. "I wish there was a war," Hamilton wrote when he was fourteen years old ...
Page 27
... million inhabitants. It was also one of the most unsanitary. Depending on the wind, the stench of raw sewage carried for miles. Sailing up the Thames, John Paul passed East London and saw the gallows "You Meet a Gentleman " 27.
... million inhabitants. It was also one of the most unsanitary. Depending on the wind, the stench of raw sewage carried for miles. Sailing up the Thames, John Paul passed East London and saw the gallows "You Meet a Gentleman " 27.
Page 33
... 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 sailors with swords. As a captain, John Paul would have a history of ...
... 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 sailors with swords. As a captain, John Paul would have a history of ...
Page 46
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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