| Title | : | A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS Constitution |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1574889966 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781574889963 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published July 31, 2005 |
Born in Philadelphia during the American Revolution, Stewart met President Washington and went to sea as a cabin boy on a merchantman before age thirteen. In March 1798, at age nineteen, he received a naval commission one month before the Department of the Navy was established. Stewart went on to an illustrious naval Thomas Jefferson recognized his Mediterranean exploits during the Barbary Wars, Stewart advised James Madison at the outset of the War of 1812, and Stewart trained many future senior naval officers―including David Porter, David Dixon Porter, and David G. Farragut―in three wars. He served as a pallbearer at President Lincoln’s funeral.
Stewart cemented his reputation as commander of the Navy’s most powerful frigate, the USS Constitution. No other captain commanded this ship for a longer wartime period or through more naval engagements. Undefeated in battle, including defeating the British warships Cyane and Levant simultaneously, both ship and captain came to be known as “Old Ironsides.”
A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS Constitution Reviews
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I got this just because of the second author. I'd been emailing back and forth with him concerning collecting WWII memories from veterans (my dad in particular). He was interested in writing something based on dad's war experiences. So I decided to try one of his books to see what kind of writer he is.
Although it starts slowly, the book picks up speed in the later chapters. Readers of any of Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels would probably enjoy this book and would appreciate the descriptions of naval tactics and personalities. It's almosts like reading a Jack Aubrey tale that lacks dialogue, although the writers' style is not as smooth as most fiction; it's obvious that they are writers more of the non-fiction/research genre.
I had not heard of Charles Stewart before this - he had an interesting career from the early days of this country up to the Civil War. What I found intriguing were the parallels between the issues then and today: the trouble the US had with Barbary pirates was similar to our current troubles with the Middle East, with many debating whether diplomacy should be tried vs. military force. So many of the events of Stewart's life and career were to me, just facts memorized in grade school and high school. This book showed me the context of those events and gave me a better picture of what was actually happening in the early days of our nation. -
Pretty well-written book about a man who should be better known. There are some repetitive sections in the book, but overall Charles Stewart himself makes the story worth reading.
