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

There are two things that should be said about this book to start. First, it is horribly mistitled. The publishers were clearly trying to cash in on the success of Zacks's other book Pirate Hunter. This book has very little to do with pirates and mostly deals with the United States as a fledgling nation and its foreign relations. Second, this book is must-read history and far better than Pirate Hunter.

The book focuses on the First Barbary War--the United States' first war (excepting the undeclared Quasi War with the French)--and specifically on William Eaton, one of the war's less remembered figures. Eaton's main mission was to overthrow the Basha of Tripoli (in modern day Libya) and set up his brother, who would be more America friendly, in his place.

Zacks tells history like no one else, and the account is a gripping story. It's also eerily reminiscent of other US involvements in foreign affairs up to the present day.