REBELS AT SEA

The bestselling maritime historian returns with a study of privateering activity during the Revolutionary War and its role in bolstering the Colonial cause.

In the 1700s, privateers—armed vessels that were owned and outfitted by private contractors who had government permission to capture enemy ships in times of war—had a reputation of being both patriotic and tainted by piracy. They were essentially a cost-free navy that could inflict significant military and economic pain at no cost to the government—in this case, the Continental Congress of the 13 rebellious Colonies, which had no official navy and relied heavily on these rogue vessels to intercept British ships. In this exciting narrative, Dolin, a 2020 Kirkus Prize finalist for A Furious Sky, demonstrates how privateering was a key element in America’s ability to secure independence. “American privateersmen,” he writes, “took the maritime fight to the British and made them bleed. In countless daring actions…privateers caused British maritime insurance rates to precipitously rise, diverted critical British resources and naval assets…added to British weariness over the war, and played a starring role in bringing France into the war on the side of the United States.” The author digs deep into the whole enterprise, strongly promoted by Benjamin Franklin, and he vividly delineates the exploits of individual battles won by Jonathan Haraden, Offin Boardman, James Forten, David Ropes, and Andrew Sherburne, among numerous others. In this characteristically well-researched history, Dolin describes the vital activities of two main types of privateers: vessels heavily armed with a large crew to man the cannons, with the sole intent to capture British prey; and merchant vessels traveling between ports with permission to attack enemy ships. The author also explores in fascinating detail the desperate circumstances of captured Americans aboard British prison ships, where they experienced “conditions so horrific that they beggar belief.”

A thrilling, unique contribution to the literature on the American Revolution.