Stephanie G's Reviews > The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines & the Secret Mission of 1805

First off, I really love learning about America in its early years. I think it is fascinating that this idea of representative republicanism manifested itself into what we live and breathe today. I think learning about early history can give us some perspective about the things we think are a big deal which really might not be. Piracy was a real issue. Paying tributes to those pirate nations was a real thing. Slavery was real. Sailors being taken into slavery was real. We were just figuring out who we were and how we wanted to move forward.

As with many books of this type, I enjoy the epilogue the best. Zacks puts the events of 1801 to 1805 into a modern perspective. We have been dealing with Islam and the Near and Middle East since the very beginning.

As the daughter of a Marine, it was wonderful to learn about the Corps' early history. I did find this book a bit dry at times, however, Zacks also incorporated dry, humorous commentary that really brought this book to life. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in early American history.