{"product_id":"give-me-a-fast-ship-isbn-9780451416117","title":"Give Me a Fast Ship","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON AWARD FOR NAVAL LITERATURE \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e• \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A meticulous, adrenaline-filled account of the earliest days of the Continental Navy.”—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Laurence Bergreen\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmerica in 1775 was on the verge of revolution—or, more likely, disastrous defeat. After the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, England’s King George sent hundreds of ships westward to bottle up American harbors and prey on American shipping. Colonists had no force to defend their coastline and waterways until John Adams of Massachusetts proposed a bold solution: The Continental Congress should raise a navy.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe idea was mad. The Royal Navy was the mightiest floating arsenal in history, with a seemingly endless supply of vessels. More than a hundred of these were massive “ships of the line,” bristling with up to a hundred high-powered cannon that could level a city. The British were confident that His Majesty’s warships would quickly bring the rebellious colonials to their knees.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThey were wrong. Beginning with five converted merchantmen, America’s sailors became formidable warriors, matching their wits, skills, and courage against the best of the British fleet. Victories off American shores gave the patriots hope—victories led by captains such as John Barry, the fiery Irish-born giant; fearless Nicholas Biddle, who stared down an armed mutineer; and James Nicholson, the underachiever who finally redeemed himself with an inspiring display of coolness and bravery. Meanwhile, along the British coastline, daring raids by handsome, cocksure John Paul Jones and the “Dunkirk Pirate,” Gustavus Conyngham—who was captured and sentenced to hang but tunneled under his cell and escaped to fight again—sent fear throughout England. The adventures of these men and others on both sides of the struggle rival anything from Horatio Hornblower or Lucky Jack Aubrey. In the end, these rebel sailors, from the quarterdeck to the forecastle, contributed greatly to American independence.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eMeticulously researched and masterfully told, \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e is a rousing, epic tale of war on the high seas—and the definitive history of the American Navy during the Revolutionary War.“In Tim McGrath's \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e, early American naval literature has found a proud new flagship…. It is rare for a one-volume work to fill the sails of personalities and battles separated from the modern reader by nearly two centuries, but \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e pulls it off beautifully. His descriptions are vivid, his commanders three-dimensional, and he evinces a genuine love of the world of white sails and black powder. When \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e drops anchor, the reader returns from an adventure cruise with respect for the men who fought the Revolution at sea.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e is less a history of the birth of the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of the Revolution than it is a rousing collection of tales describing battles against the British, the Continental Congress and among rival captains…. Tim McGrath is a storyteller writ large… McGrath explains the details of 18th century navies with a deft pen and a decidedly nautical viewpoint. This is a delight to read.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Kansas City Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “[McGrath’s] gripping descriptions of pursuit and combat at sea are the equal of any fiction, with the added virtue of being entirely true…. Solidly researched history presented with verve and gusto.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “McGrath enhances his position among American Revolution naval war historians with this comprehensive, fast-paced account of the collection of armed merchantmen (non-naval vessel) manned by amateurs that took on the world’s greatest naval power.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “In telling this fascinating and sprawling tale, Tim McGrath never loses sight of the human dimension of his subject. He has mined archival sources largely neglected in previous histories, and the result is an exhaustively researched and fluently rendered account of the first incarnation of the American navy. \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e is a thoroughly readable history of an integral aspect of the campaign for American independence.”\u003cb\u003e—Ian W. Toll, author of \u003ci\u003eSix Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “In \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e, naval historian Tim McGrath has given us a meticulous, adrenalin-filled account of the earliest days of the Continental Navy, and a John Paul Jones for our times and for the ages.”\u003cb\u003e—Laurence Bergreen, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eOver the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eColumbus: The Four Voyages\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “I’ve seldom enjoyed a work of historical nonfiction as much as \u003ci\u003eGive Me A Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e. Here, Tim McGrath helps readers learn about a vital, if little-known aspect of the American Revolution and feel royally entertained at the same time. That’s a rare combination, and \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e is a special book. After reading it, McGrath will be one of your favorite historians, as he now is of mine.”\u003cb\u003e—Jeff Guinn, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eManson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eTim McGrath\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the critically-acclaimed biography \u003ci\u003eJohn Barry: An American Hero in the Age of Sail \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eGive Me a Fast Ship\u003c\/i\u003e. He is a two-time winner of the Commodore John Barry Book Award and the recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature. An avid sailor, McGrath has published articles in \u003ci\u003eNaval History\u003c\/i\u003e magazine. He lives outside Philadelphia.","brand":"Dutton Caliber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303442665701,"sku":"NP9780451416117","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780451416117.jpg?v=1767728173","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/give-me-a-fast-ship-isbn-9780451416117","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}