Rating: 
Summary: HORATIO HORNBLOWER, EAT YOUR HEART OUT....
Review: Very often, fiction just can't keep up with real life. This is the case with USS Essex. This book is about the exploits of a U.S. Navy frigate in the early years of the American Republic, between the Revolution and the War of 1812. In those early years, the other nations of the world from Britain, the world's premier naval power, to the tatterdemalion despotisms of Africa's Barbary coast, regarded the United States as a 98-pound weakling. American ships were routinely boarded, and American sailors routinely kidnapped for ransom. In spite of the frugality and pacifism of early presidents, it became necessary to build a navy to achieve freedom of the seas. The authors do a wonderful job of telling the U.S. Navy's early years using the Essex as a vehicle for that story. The great captains of the Navy's early years are all here, Porter, Preble, Bainbridge, Decatur. There are even portents of future greatness in these pages as well as we see 11-year old Midshipman David Farragut (who was stationed on the Essex in the War of 1812), who would later lead the Union Navy to victory five decades later in the Civil War. The descriptions of naval life and tactics are well-done, and the authors handle the morass of nautical jargon deftly, not permitting the technical details to overwhelm landlubberly readers. The book contains a glossary of naval terms at the end and has maps and illustrations of the key engagements.The history of the ship is thoroughly covered, from its beginnings in volunteerism (the citizens of Salem, Massachussetts used fund-raisers to pay for the ship--just imagine trying to build an aircraft carrier like that!) through its dramatic (and bloody) seafights to its sad and ironic end as a prison hulk used by the British Empire to house Irish prisoners. A quick and satisfying (but by no means simplistic)read.
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