The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776-1815

Rating:
Summary: The Crescent Obsured
Review: I enjoyed the book immensely because in recounting the specific events that led up to the Battle of Tripoli, the author gives insight into issues present in current Muslim World/Western World conflict and provides a historical close-up of US arrogance. The US denounces the enslavement of a few Americans by Muslims while at the same time building a US economy based on the enslavement of millions of Africans.

In 1785, while American diplomats struggle to develop treaties with North Africa, three "North African strangers" arrive in Virginia. Instead of the friendly reception expected by the strangers, they were locked up, interrogated, and soon sent back to their own country. To prevent "dangerous aliens" from ever posing such a threat again, the Virginia legislature passed the Virginia act. The act gave the governor the power to deport aliens from countries at war with the US.

Thus begins the reader's journey to understanding the beginning of the Western world versus Muslim world conflict-a conflict that predates the existence of a United States. The book ends with the United States humbling the Muslim states of North Africa by declaring and winning a war against Tripoli. From beginning to end the reader is given account after account of varied forms of moral outrage shown by the US towards the Muslim capture of american ships and the enslavement of American crews.

Rating:
Summary: The story obscured
Review: I honestly can't believe that the other two glowing reviews are for this book. They would more likely describe Jefferson's War which I recently read and enjoyed a good deal.

This book seems to be written by an academic elite who doesn't clearly describe the events of the time in overview. Instead he gives a cloudy and partial image of what was going on through a bunch of obscure, minor, news clippings and plays from the time. Worse, it's chopped up into several dis-joint chapters, each of which read like an essay by his grad students who are tyring too hard for an A, making up for a lack of research with a plethora of rambling analysis. If I hadn't read Jefferson's War which chronologically goes through the events I would have been completely lost reading this book.

If you want to learn the history of this time, with romance, action, adventure, exotic lands, swashbuckling, amazing and interesting facts thrown in, etc. read Jefferson's War. If you want to listen to an academic make convoluted pointless arguments -all the while passing modern judgement on the views and values of the time- then this is your book. The irony is that the author was audacious enough to put the word obscured in the title of his own book . . .

Rating:
Summary: The Crescent Obscured
Review: The Crescent Obscured reads like a historical novel. Robert Allison packs the book with romance, adventure, and action. Among his heroes are Steven Decatur and James Riley, and others of this fascinating period of United States history. Allison writes with a wry sense of humor, bringing history alive. The Barbary pirates, the stuff of legends and fairy tales, were real. Allison demystifies the origin of the words to the Marine song: "to the shores of Tripoli."

Author Robert Allison's accounts are so vivid, you can almost imagine a movie script in progress. The last chapter of The Crescent Obscured is another extraordinary story, that of James Riley, captain of the Commerce, and his crew. Shipwrecked in the Mediterranean near the Spanish Sahara, James Riley endured two years of captivity, remaining all the while concerned about his crew and trusting Providence for their deliverance. Riley wrote a book about his experiences, called Travels and Sufferings: An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, Wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa in the Month of August 1815. Not only did Riley recite the events of the captivity in his book, but also made references to the state of slavery. Riley's book was one of six that Abraham Lincoln claimed most influenced him.

The Crescent Obscured is history made fun to read. Robert Allison teaches us what influence the Muslim world had on the infant nation. We learn that there certainly was much more than we might have expected before reading Allison's wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: The Crescent Obscured
Review: The Crescent Obscured reads like a historical novel. Robert Allison packs the book with romance, adventure, and action. Among his heroes are Steven Decatur and James Riley, and others of this fascinating period of United States history. Allison writes with a wry sense of humor, bringing history alive. The Barbary pirates, the stuff of legends and fairy tales, were real. Allison demystifies the origin of the words to the Marine song: "to the shores of Tripoli."

Author Robert Allison's accounts are so vivid, you can almost imagine a movie script in progress. The last chapter of The Crescent Obscured is another extraordinary story, that of James Riley, captain of the Commerce, and his crew. Shipwrecked in the Mediterranean near the Spanish Sahara, James Riley endured two years of captivity, remaining all the while concerned about his crew and trusting Providence for their deliverance. Riley wrote a book about his experiences, called Travels and Sufferings: An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, Wrecked on the Western Coast of Africa in the Month of August 1815. Not only did Riley recite the events of the captivity in his book, but also made references to the state of slavery. Riley's book was one of six that Abraham Lincoln claimed most influenced him.

The Crescent Obscured is history made fun to read. Robert Allison teaches us what influence the Muslim world had on the infant nation. We learn that there certainly was much more than we might have expected before reading Allison's wonderful book.