The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War Against the Pirates of North Africa

This book took a very small piece of American history and captured its importance. In addition to providing a well laid out flow of events the book does a wonderful job of providing insight into the people and activities that led to the Algerian War, the eventual demise of the North African pirates, the seldom recognized impact on the developing issue of slavery, and the growth of America as a country united in pursuit of its place in the world. All in all a good read, particularly if one enjoys sea battles, pirates, diplomacy and political intrigue.

While many might believe that the American entanglement with the Islamic world began with the first Iraq War, or at the earliest, the founding of Israel, we have actually been fighting with this area of the world much longer, even as far back as the first years of the United States. Of course, there are many differences between this early conflict and our current ones, so historical comparisons should not be too easily made between our current war and the one against the Barbary Terror, as chronicled by Frederic Leiner. One significant difference is location: instead of the Middle East, the Barbary pirates operated in North Africa, particularly in the Barbary states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli (the last with the famous shores of Tripoli). These pirates (or corsairs) actually worked for the local states, making them more akin to privateers. The goal was simple: steal the goods on merchant ships and enslave the crewmen, with the intention of ransoming them. There was an alternative, however: paying an annual tribute to each state, or what may now be thought of as protection money. The Barbary states did rather well with this system, terrorizing the ships of the Mediterranean. Few seemed willing to do anything about the corsairs. This changed at the conclusion of the War of 1812, when James Madison authorized a war against the largest (and most duplicitous) state, Algiers. Led by naval war hero Stephen Decatur, a fleet would soon force Algiers into capitulation; what was worse for the Barbary states was their façade of strength was broken, and soon the world power England would turn its wrath towards these countries (which were technically part of the Ottoman Empire). Another big difference with our current conflicts is the softening effect of time. With two centuries having gone by, the Barbary states seem more exotic than evil. Although generally a nasty lot, nowadays corsairs tend to be romanticized like all pirates (as the success of Pirates of the Caribbean attests). There has even been a casino called the Barbary Coast; I think it will be quite a few years till we are able to look nostalgically back at Sadaam Hussein and start naming hotels after his regime. Leiner does a nice job of writing, as his title states, of the End of the Barbary Terror. This is, in a way, an adventure story that we already know the end of. It is also, despite the fact that it is almost forgotten nowadays, an important chapter in American history, and represents our first real military rout of an opponent. Leiner tells a good story and puts it in the proper historical context; if you enjoy reading about American or naval history, this is a book to read.

A good object lesson to people who think that you can appease or negotiate with bullies. The USA was a little country that had just gone through three years of war with Great Britain, a mighty sea and financial power. Most European coutries simply paid annual extortion fees to the pirates to protect their shipping and hopefully send the pirates against their competitors' ships. The USA sent ships and solved the problem. This caused real consternation among the European population when they saw that the USA could send ships all the way across the Atlantic and fix the problem while their governments could only send taxpayer money year after year. Not only did the USA not pay any extortion money but they also returned many of the enslaved mariners to their home countries. Clearly Europeans didn't learn anything from this as we saw in the 20th century. I give this a four due to several editing errors. It's not a long book so proofreading it should not have been a big burden.

A rich and detailed look at an obscure event in U.S. naval history. "The End of Barbary Terror" describes a rather dashing adventure by a young U.S. Navy fresh off the Battle of 1812 with the British. Despite these challenges a band of brash and confident officers deployed the bulk of the U.S. fleet to the Med to destroy the Algerian Fleet and force the return of U.S. hostages and the end of payments to Algeria. The book proves that the U.S. has been combating Islamic forces since its earlier days. While this was a very different war, certain similar ties between then and now can be seen The author spends considerable team telling not only the operational naval portions of the battle, which were not exactly very exciting, but he focuses on the complicated political battles between naval leadership and national politicians. The author's naval knowledge seemed solid, but the description focus mainly on the officers, little is known or discussed about the rest of the crew. The same can be said of the Algerians. The great majority of sources were American, so what was going through the minds of Algerian leadership and naval officers could only be guessed. The British Attack on Algiers was well done, and more riveting then the rather limited engagements between the U.S. and Algeria described earlier in the book. I recommend this book to any serious reader of naval history, who enjoys diving into the deep details of the U.S. Navy circa 1815.

If you like American historical nonfiction than this is a must read about a period in our history that has a lot of relevance to today. Fred Leiner brilliantly leads the reader through a time when a young America, after the War of 1812, looks to expand its trade but falls prey to the pirates of North Africa. Following unsuccessful diplomatic efforts, America feeling bold after the war, sets out to put an end to this state-sponsored Barbary terrorism at the hands of the Muslims of North Africa. As the story unfolds, the reader finds that they are caught up in a complex political and military drama hampered by slow communications, egos, prejudices, and traditions. Mr. Leiner does an excellent job methodically and carefully unfolding the story, while at the same time thoroughly develops the participants and the dynamics among them. In several areas, he also challenges and explores past notions about events and decisions, venturing to offer his own opinions based upon his research and insight. From the beginning of the book, to the epilogue, Mr. Leiner has done a masterful job of giving us a thorough look at a very exciting and important brief period in American history that had a major impact on our developing nation. I highly recommend this book, particularly to people perplexed by modern day terrorism. History certainly does have a way of repeating itself.