Widely praised for his best-selling maritime histories including Leviathan and Black Flags, Blue Waters, historian Eric Jay Dolin pivots from pirates to privateers in REBELS AT SEA (Liveright: May 31, 2022).

It has been called a must read for all who wish to learn more about the Revolutionary War.  I would love to get you a copy of the book and schedule an interview with Eric Jay Dolin.  He is available for interviews starting on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.  If there is interest, please respond with mailing address for a hard copy of the book and a preferred date/time for the interview.

The heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told many times – yet often missing from maritime histories of the period is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that were, in fact, critical to American victory. In REBELS AT SEA Dolin corrects that omission, arguing that without the help of privateers, the outcome of the war would likely have been very different.

At a time when the young Continental Navy numbered no more than about sixty vessels, privateers – or privately owned vessels granted permission by the new government to seize British merchantmen and men of war – filled in the gaps. Nearly 2,000 of these private ships set sail over the course of the war, with tens of thousands of Americans capturing more than 1,800 British ships. A truly ragtag fleet ranging from twenty-five-foot-long whaleboats to full-rigged ships more than 100 ft long, privateersmen were not just pirates after a good loot – as too often assumed – but were, instead, crucial instruments in the war. They diverted critical British resources to protecting their shipping, played a key role in bringing France in as an ally, replenished much-needed supplies back home, and bolstered morale.

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