Nautical history

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, May 2011; written by Lisa Pearson.

One of the most popular fiction series we have here at the public library features Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. This nautical/historical/adventure saga is unfortunately at an end, since author Patrick O’Brian passed away in 2000. Many’s the time we’ve seen a patron come up to the circulation desk, the last volume of the Aubrey/Maturin series in their hands, with a bereft expression on their face. “Do you have any more like this?” Fortunately, he had such a knack for historical accuracy and detail that you can easily get your O’Brian fix with one of our new nonfiction books.

“Merchant Kings: when companies ruled the world, 1600-1900”, by Stephen R. Bown, examines the influence businesses such as the Dutch West India Company, the English East India Company and the Russian American Company had on exploration, colonization and military policy. From the settlement of New York City (originally called New Amsterdam) to the sale of Alaska to instillation of apartheid attitudes in South Africa, a handful of commercial interests had a profound effect on global history. Far from being a dry recitation of yearly profits and business partnerships, Bown’s book focuses on the leaders – Stuyvesant, Baranov and Rhodes, as well as the leaders of three other companies – to tell a story of ruthlessness and ambition. This book will help explain why Jack Aubrey was continually being sent to defend East India Company shipping routes from French aggression, as in book 4 “The Mauritius Command”.

“Perilous Fight: America’s intrepid war with Britain on the high seas, 1812-1815” by Stephen Budiansky is a classic tale of an underdog battling the acknowledged ruler of the seas. The War of 1812 was the keystone in the creation of the United States Navy, and the battles that American ships won against larger, more powerful British ships gave America a reputation and self-confidence that helped establish her as a sovereign nation to be reckoned with, rather than a breakaway colony which would soon disintegrate. Unpredictable tactics, superior shipbuilding and naval officers selected with an eye to ability, rather than personal connections, helped give the United States Navy an edge in her encounters with the British, but as Budiansky explains in his book, it was indeed a “perilous fight”. Readers of book 6 in the Aubrey/Maturin series “The Fortune of War” will enjoy seeing the naval war from the American point of view.

“Pirates of Barbary: corsairs, conquests, and captivity in the 17th-century Mediterranean” by Adrian Tinniswood documents the rise of the Barbary pirates. The coastline that is currently occupied by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya was once a shoal of terror for sailors and traders from Europe. The pirates from the loosely confederated Barbary states would steal the cargo and send the captives to slave markets in North Africa or keep them chained in pirate galleys to prey upon other victims. The European powers attempted to beat down the pirates on numerous occasions, but were unable to bring them to submission militarily. Instead, they relied on the payment of ‘tribute’ to the Barbary rulers to protect their ships and sailors. This uneasy state of truce lasted until 1801, when the new American President – Thomas Jefferson – refused to pay the escalating rates demanded by Tripoli’s ruler. The ensuing war weakened Tripoli greatly, further skirmishes ensued along the coast, and when an Anglo-Dutch fleet bombarded Algeria into surrender in 1816, the reign of the pirates finally ended. Fans of Patrick O’Brian will remember frequent encounters with pirates in the Mediterranean, most notably in “The Ionian Mission” and “Treason’s Harbour”.

So, while there may be no more Aubrey/Maturin books on the horizon, there are always ways to feed your hunger for rollicking adventure on the high seas.