Book cover of The Barbary Wars

Book description

Frank Lambert details America's nineteenth-century conflicts in the Middle East in The Barbary Wars.

The history of America's conflict with the piratical states of the Mediterranean runs through the presidencies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison; the adoption of the Constitution; the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812;…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Barbary Wars as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

All those American captives in North Africa prompted the United States’ first overseas wars:  The First and Second Barbary Wars. In turn, they led to still more captivity, not to mention “the shores of Tripoli”  part of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Lambert’s is the definitive account of these events, and it is short and sweet, even if it places them in the “Atlantic world” rather than the Mediterranean world.

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