According to the author, "This book describes the deeds of a race of red-blooded Americans who won honor for their flag and renown for their nation during the era of its struggle for very existence. From log books, sea journals, and other manuscripts hitherto unpublished (most of them written during the years between the Revolution and the War of 1812), are herein gathered such narratives as those of the first American voyages to Japan, India, the Philippines, Guam, the Cape of Good Hope, Sumatra, Arabia, and the South Seas. These records, as penned by the seamen who made Salem the most famous port of the New World a century ago, are much more than local annals. They comprise a unique and brilliant chapter of American history, and they speak for themselves." A history of the port of Salem provides a detailed backdrop for the chapters devoted to seamen and ships. Philip English, Jonathan Haraden, Captain Luther Little, Richard Derby, Elias Hasket Derby, Nathaniel Bowditch, Nathaniel Silsbee, Richard Cleveland, and General Townsend Ward; pioneers in distant seas; privateers; the Essex, the Friendship, the Ulysses, the Grand Turk; and much more are covered on these pages. A wealth of facsimile reprints of original documents, illustrations, paintings and vintage photographs augment this well-written narrative. Appendices and a full name plus subject index add to the value of this work.
Ralph D. Paine
(1924), 2007, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 588 pp.
ISBN: 9780788437748
101-P3774
