The war on terrorism did not start with 9/11, but was at least 200 years old as Richard Zacks brilliantly proves with "The Pirate Coast." If one is expecting Johnny Depp and lots of laughs, check out this detailed example of patient historical research and follow the real-life adventures of William Eaton, as he tries to free real damsels from the grasp of petty tyrants along the Barbary Coast. Note, also, how presidents can play devious games as they keep one eye on public opinion, as they pursue goals that ultimately prove unattainable. Sound familiar?

This book was referred to me by someone who had recently finished reading it.

It was a very entertaining and quick read while also being a valuable look at our history. Zacks does a great job putting the story into historical context. I especially enjoyed his description of how treaties of the time included provisions allowing for the long transmission time of the treaty.

After finishing this book, I found myself searching for more details of our country's first few decades. We are also reminded how our history can be influenced by strong-willed individuals who go to extraordinary lengths of accomplish their mission. I don't ever remember hearing about William Eaton before. Now that I've read Zacks, I can really appreciate his efforts.

Zacks is a master at spinning very well written tales about things which actually happened. The entire construction of this book spans not only the central theme, Eaton's amazing accomplishment in the Libyan Desert, but also places the event squarely in the middle of all the significant history that surrounds it. As a result, Zacks reports not only what actually happened, but what drove the event in the first place, why it was significant and how its impact determined the course of subsequent events.

This is the story of America's first foreign war. But it is much more than that. It is the story of Thomas Jefferson's betrayal of a subordinate who accomplished his mission in grand style, of Tobias Lear's (one of George Washington's assistants)lack of character, of James Madison's subservience and of the U.S. Mediterranean naval squadron's failure. Most historians credit the Navy for America's success along the Barbary Coast but in fact they were amateurish, losing the Philadelphia and, through captured seamen,substantively increasing the number of American slaves in Tripoli.

Everything that was accomplished, i.e., the ultimate end of the North African slave trade,was accomplished because of Eaton's and seven United States Marines' over land campaign from Alexandria, Egypt to Derne, Libya. In capturing Derne, William Eaton and the Marines forced Libyan leaders to the negations that ultimately ended piracy all along the North coast of Africa. That Eaton was not rewarded for his efforts and dies penniless, alone and forgotten is an American tragedy. Surely his accomplishment ranks with Lewis and Clark's.