REVIEWS in rhe face of danger, rhough rhe exam ples are separared by four cenruries. The aurhor describes histo ri cal evenrs rhar suggesr why piracy grew so widespread durin g rhar period. Mr. Lircle answers many ques tions rhat readers may not have thought to ask: the distinction between a sea dog and a Sal ley rover, a buccaneer and a fi li buster, a corsai r and a caper, a Mani la galleon and a Mani la ship. There is great porenrial for build ing yo ur nautical vocab ulary or esoreric "salty" language in his seven appendixes. One minor shorrcoming is rhe author's occas io nal use of undefi ned fo reign words o r phrases, plus some obscure definirion s of fam iliar words in his writing. Therefore, pans of rhe book require a bir of work racl1er rhan to be read ar o ne's leisure. That said, The Sea Rover's Practice is a scho larly, informarive, rhought-provoking wo rk, a book that wou ld be a welcome additi on to any maritime historian's library. Considering all rhe ri des rhat have been published in cl1e last decade o n piracy, this book is an excellent resource on its true nature. LOUIS ARTHUR NORTON West Simsbury, Connecricut
The Barbary ~rs: American Independence in the Atlantic World by Frank Lambert (Hi ll and Wang, ew York, 2005 , 228 pp, illus, maps, nores, index, ISBN: 08090-9533-5; $24hc) W irhin rhirreen months of rhe Treaty of Paris, the struggling and penurious U nired Srares of America government realized it had a new problem. Trading wirh cl1e countries of the Medirerranean Basin was crucial to regaining the country's financial healrh; but, now, wirhour rhe prorection of rhe Royal Navy for our merchant sh ips, the traders doing business wirh G reece, Turkey, Italy, and Spain found cl1eir ships being captured by rhe pirates of the Barbary Coast, their crews enslaved, and their cargoes stolen. Frank Lambert has wrirren a fine volume o n cl1e polirics (bo rh American and European) , the mind-set of rhe pashas of Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, and rhe ulrimare fighring rhar began a lo ng struggle with cl1e Moslems ofNorcl1 Africa. Un like many writers who have tackled th is subjecr, Mr. Lambert makes clear that today's probl ems with rhe Moslem wo rld are 46
wuelared to rhose rhis country and others experienced in rhe ninereenrh century and before. Then, it was purely economics; religious ideology had li ttle to do with it. Thar conAi cr ran rhrough d1e rerms of four presidents, the Q uasi-War wirh France, rhe War of 18 12, and rhe crearion of a fullrime, professional Navy. To the aurhor's
credit, his explanation encompasses rhe Adanric wo rld, nor jusr d1e Medirerranean. Ships headed for Gibral tar and rhe soud1 of Spain were ripe targets for the Moroccan corsairs before rhey ever go r into the Mediterranean . My only complaim wid1 Lamben's effort stems from some reliance o n secondary and tertiary sources, some of which gor rhe derails wrong. For the mosr pan, however, he made good use of primary sources and researched his topic thoroughly. His style is clear and engaging; cl1e book is well-documented and illustrated. I wo uld recommend Mr. Lam ben's book rn anyone with an imerest in the beginnings of the US Navy or in rhe polirical environment and the machinations extant both in Europe and America durin g this time period. Whil e rhe reader will find little to rie rhis lengthy stru ggle wicl1 our current global issues, he o r she will surely discover rhar rhe rulers of cl1e Barbary States had lircle bur disdain for rhe resr of the wo rld and saw norhing but eco no mi c opportunity in rheir conracr wirh other countries. WILLIAM
H . WHITE
Rumso n, New Jersey
The French Navy and the Seven Years' ~r by Jon a than R. Dull (Uni ve rsity of Neb raska Press, Lincoln , NE, 2005, 445 pp, maps, index, nores, bibli o, ISBN: 0-8032- 173 1-5; $35 hc) In this hi sto ry of the French Navy in rhe Seven Years' War, Jonaclrnn D ull views the war as two conflicts rhat must be studied togerher as a whole. The North American rhearer of operations (1754-1760) and rhe fighring in E urope (1756- 1762) were complex, inte rconnecred, and involved many co mbaranrs. H e regards rradirional histories as deficiem in rh eir fragm ented rrearm em of the conAict and presents his wo rk as rhe mosr complete analysis of rhe French Navy's role in rhe war. Dull starts with rhe War of the Austrian Successio n in 1748 and traces rhe initial breakdown of Franco-British relations to place rhe French Navy's role in context. Co ntinuing to 1762, the author interweaves military and poli tical factors that inAuenced borh France in general and their navy in particular. The author deems the conAi ct between G reat Britain and france (i n terms of lin king the wars in North America and Europe) as the most important facto r. Jo nat ha n D ull arri ves at some interestin g co nclusions- not necessarily the o nes trad itionally es poused by histo ri ans. Louis XV is depicted as the savior of rhe French Navy, particularl y for his ro le in sav ing France's participation in rh e Newfoundla nd fisheries, whi ch became a naval training gro und in decades to come. Addition ally, Dull showed how rhe French Navy performed well againsr rh e much-vaunted Royal Navy. Finally, he views rhe wa r as bloody, expensive, and unn ecessa ry. It desrabilized British North Ame rica, had delererious effects on French Ca nada, and caused rhe loss of Native American auto no my. In this volume, part of the series France
Overseas: Studies in Empire and Decolonization, Dull has written a magisrerial history of the war and rh e role of rhe French Navy. Wirh a forty-o ne page bibliography and nearly 100 pages of notes, the author le fr few stones unturned. This history will lo ng stand as rhe definitive wo rk on the French Navy of the pei¡iod. HAROLD N. BOYER Folsom, Pennsylvania
SEA HI STORY 114, SPRING 2006