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America
GALVESTON'S THE ELISSA Tm T ALL S111r n F TE XA S by Kurt D. Voss All proceeds f rom this pictorial history benefit the ELISSA preservation fund.
Published by Arcadi a Publishing and Galveston Historical Foundation. $2 1.99, 128 pages, 200 photographs Autographed copies avai lab le at (409) 763-1 877, or on line at:
www.tsm-elissa.org Ann e T . Co n verse Photography
N e i l h, 1996, Cover pho tograph
Woot{, Wind" ana Water A STORY OF THE OPERA
HousE Cur
RACE OF NANTUCKET
Photographs by Anne T. Converse Text by Carolyn M. Ford Celebrating its 10th Anniversary!! Live vicariously through the pictures and tales of classic wooden yacht owners who lovingly restore and race these gems of the sea.
"An oulslanding presentation deserves ongoing recommendation for both art and nautical collections. " 10"x 12 " Hardbound book; 132 pages, 85 fu ll-page color photographs; Price $45.00
For more information contact: Anne T. Converse P&F : 508-748-0638 anne@annetconverse.com www.annetconverse.com
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Intrepid Sailors: The Legacy of Preble's Boys and the Tripoli Campaign is a careful retelling of the exploits that led to a settlement with the Barbary states and began the legacy of the US Navy. The story revolves about the Tripolican capture of the US N avy fri gate Philadelphia and her officers and crew. Preble had to either recapture the Philadelphia o r, at lease, deny her to the enemy. O nce Stephen D ecatur had successfully burned the ship in a nightti m e raid, Preble and his command turned to subj ugating Tripoli . The narrative of Intrepid Sailors is slow going for modern readers. Preble's fleet m oved at the speed of the wind, not a nuclear-powered drive system . M o reover, ho nor and glory, the dri ving fo rces behind the offi cers who led the fi ghting, is as far removed fro m the modern scene as is the slow-m oving w ind-drive n fl eet. Autho r Chipp Reid m akes his protagonists real to his readers, but they no netheless remain of another world where m en dueled for honor and sought deadly combat to attain glory. Readers with an eye for adventure and an appreciation of American mili tary history will fi nd Intrepid Sailors a fetching addition to their library. D R. DAVID 0 . WH ITTEN Auburn, Alabam a
researched and highly sympathetic treatment of o ne of hiscory's great, but unfa irly overlooked, naval officers. As if service in an age adorned with the nam e of histo ry's greatest admiral was not enough co hamper the proper appreciation of a n outstanding officer, Pellew was also forced to share the stage with a host of
extraordinarily competent and aggressive capta ins. While Taylor muses at the possiCommander: The Life and Exploits of bili cyofPellewserving as a model fo r Patrick Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain by O 'Brian's fictional Jack Aubrey, there were Stephen Taylor (W. W No rton & Com- of course numerous ocher accomplished pany, N ew York, 201 2, 320pp, illus, ap- captains, most notable amo ng them Thomas pen, no tes, I SBN 97 8- 0-393- 07 164 -1 ; Cochrane, who also influenced O'Brian . Considering che great successes of British $28.95hc) Commander: 7he Life and r.>cp!oits of captains in shi p-to-ship actions at the batBritain's Greatest Frigate Captain is a long- tles of the N ile an d Trafalgar and the limited overdue scudy of Sir Edwa rd Pellew, a m an use of signals by Nelson, o ne cannot help of renown in his time, who also became well but recognize chat, fo r Britain's Royal Navy, known to lacer generatio ns as the m entor to it was a golden age ofleadership under fire. the tide character in C. S. Forester's H orn- Impressively, Taylor makes a convincing blower saga. Unfo rcunacely, until chis biog- case ch at Pellew, if not a great admiral in raphy, Pellew had received scant attention the mold of N elson, was indeed the most from chose commi teed to the scudy of naval o utstand ing captain of his age. The author leadership. As his career spanned the years portrays his subject as a courageo us and encompassing th e American Revolution , able sea fighter and sailo r. He offers ample the French Revolutio nary and Napoleonic testimo ny co the expertise and energy that Wars, and subsequent hostili ties with the Pellew consistently dem o nstrated fro m his Barbary Pirates, he was, for fam e's sake, coming of age during the Ame rican Revoill starred to have earned his laurels in the luti on to his final campaign as the admiral Age of Nelson . Fortunately, in his endeav- co mmanding a squadron sent to bring the ors to rescue Pellew from neglect, Stephen Dey o f Algiers to heel. Thro ugho ut chis Taylor has succeeded in producing a well- admirable wo rk, Taylo r is careful to allow
S EA HISTORY 142, SPRING 201 3