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The Shining Sea
- David Porter and the Epic Voyage of the U.S.S. Essex during the War of 1812
- Narrated by: Christian Baskous
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
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Publisher's summary
A few months after the outbreak of the War of 1812, Captain David Porter set out in the USS Essex on an epic, 17-month cruise to the South Seas. Porter was pursuing fame and riches, and by most accounts his odyssey was a stunning success: it brought glory to the fledgling American navy, cemented Porter's reputation as a daring and talented commander, and has long been celebrated as one of the greatest maritime adventures in U.S. history. Less well known, however, is the terrible price that the crew of the Essex paid for their captain's outsized ambitions.
In The Shining Sea, award-winning historian George C. Daughan tells the full story of Porter's thrilling, action-packed voyage, revealing the heights of Porter's hubris and the true depths of his failure on this fateful cruise. Intent on achieving personal glory, Porter made the treacherous journey around Cape Horn and into the Pacific Ocean, where he planned to capture a British man-of-war. From Valparaiso to the Galapagos to the Marquesas, the Essex roamed the South Seas, seizing British whaling and merchant ships, wreaking havoc on British commerce, and earning Porter and his men wealth and acclaim. Flush with his victories, Porter welcomed the news that a British frigate the HMS Phoebe was on his tail, and he resolved to capture her. But Porter could not overcome the Phoebe's superior firepower. Over the course of a desperate, bloody battle, he lost the Essex and over two-thirds of her crew a shocking end to a daring journey.
A swashbuckling tale of risk and ruin on the high seas, The Shining Sea brings to life the monomaniacal quest of one of the most misunderstood commanders of the War of 1812. Porter's singular voyage, Daughan shows, stands as a cautionary tale for any leader who would put personal glory and ambition ahead of cause and countrymen.
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,843
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,565
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,549
When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa's Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors and held them as slaves, demanding ransom and tribute payments far beyond what the new country could afford.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting history - terrible narrator
- By CJF on 12-08-15
By: Brian Kilmeade, and others
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Six Frigates
- By: Ian W. Toll
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,363
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,116
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,114
Before the ink was dry on the U.S. Constitution, the establishment of a permanent military had become the most divisive issue facing the new government. Would a standing army be the thin end of dictatorship? Would a navy protect American commerce against the Mediterranean pirates, or drain the treasury and provoke hostilities with the great powers? The founders, particularly Jefferson, Madison, and Adams, debated these questions fiercely and switched sides more than once.
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3 out of 5 stars
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BE ADVISED THIS BOOK IS ABRIDGED
- By George Carpenter III on 09-11-08
By: Ian W. Toll
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The War for All the Oceans
- From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo
- By: Roy Adkins, Lesley Adkins
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4 out of 5 stars 81
Roy Adkins, with his wife, Lesley, returns to the Napoleonic War in The War for All the Oceans, a gripping account of the naval struggle that lasted from 1798 to 1815, a period marked at the beginning by Napoleon's seizing power and at the end by the War of 1812. In this vivid and visceral account, Adkins draws on eyewitness records to portray not only the battles but also the details of a sailor's life: shipwrecks, press-gangs, prostitutes, spies, and prisoners of war.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Good material, horrid narration
- By SC Visel on 01-03-08
By: Roy Adkins, and others
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Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775-1815
- By: Nathan Miller
- Narrated by: David Rapkin
- Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 221
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 202
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Story4 out of 5 stars 199
In the late 18th century, it was widely thought that to be a sailor was little better than to be a slave. "No man will be a sailor," wrote Samuel Johnson, "who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail. A man in jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company." If that were true, historian Nathan Miller suggests, then the record of sailing in the age of tall ships would likely be distinguished by few heroes and fewer grand narratives.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Misleading description, solid historical summary
- By M J Mills on 08-10-14
By: Nathan Miller
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To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth
- The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship—and the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War
- By: Tom Clavin, Phil Keith
- Narrated by: Joe Knezevich
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating how these men traveled the world on a ship in the mid 19th century.
- By Jacob Llamas on 03-10-24
By: Tom Clavin, and others
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A Rage for Glory
- The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN
- By: James Tertius de Kay
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 23
Acclaimed author James Tertius de Kay recounts the lifeof Commodore Stephen Decatur in the first new biography of the great naval hero in almost 70 years. De Kay draws on material unavailable to previous biographers to explore Decatur’s extraordinary life. From his burning of the Philadelphia to his capture of the HMS Macedonian, Decatur demonstrated his legendary bravery at every turn.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent writing and exciting story
- By mikey on 08-02-19
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Sea of Glory
- America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 619
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 461
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 465
America's first frontier was not the West; it was the sea, and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his best-selling In the Heart of the Sea, Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seen - the US Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good solid voyage of discovery
- By Ken Sundermeyer on 06-18-05
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The Republic of Pirates
- Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down
- By: Colin Woodard
- Narrated by: Lewis Grenville
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,064
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,093
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,053
In the early 18th century, the Pirate Republic was home to some of the great pirate captains, including Blackbeard, "Black Sam" Bellamy, and Charles Vane. Along with their fellow pirates - former sailors, indentured servants, and runaway slaves - this "Flying Gang" established a crude but distinctive democracy in the Bahamas, carving out their own zone of freedom in which servants were free, Blacks could be equal citizens, and leaders were chosen or deposed by a vote.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Audible is better
- By CaptainRavick on 01-19-16
By: Colin Woodard
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Rebels at Sea
- Privateering in the American Revolution
- By: Eric Jay Dolin
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
The heroic story of the founding of the US Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America's first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation's character. In Rebels at Sea, Eric Jay Dolin corrects that significant omission, and contends that privateers, as they were called, were in fact critical to the American victory. Privateers were privately owned vessels that were granted permission by the new government to seize British merchantmen and men of war.
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3 out of 5 stars
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If you can get over the narrator...
- By Toby Everett on 09-20-22
By: Eric Jay Dolin
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Last Flag Down
- The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship
- By: John Baldwin, Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
As the Confederacy felt itself slipping beneath the Union juggernaut in late 1864, the South launched a desperate counteroffensive to force a standoff. Its secret weapon? A state-of-the-art raiding ship whose mission was to sink the U.S. merchant fleet. The raider's name was Shenandoah, and her executive officer was Conway Whittle, a 24-year-old warrior.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good all around
- By Rob on 01-19-08
By: John Baldwin, and others
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1812: The Navy's War
- By: George C. Daughan
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 702
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 607
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Story4 out of 5 stars 604
At the outbreak of the War of 1812, America's prospects looked dismal. It was clear that the primary battlefield would be the open ocean but America's war fleet, only 20 ships strong, faced a practiced British navy of more than a thousand men-of-war. Still, through a combination of nautical deftness and sheer bravado, the American navy managed to take the fight to the British and turn the tide of the war.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Arghhhh!!! Not meant for audio.
- By Jonathan Love on 07-07-12
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Cochrane
- The Real Master and Commander
- By: David Cordingly
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 169
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
Nicknamed le loup des mers ("the sea wolf") by Napoleon, Thomas Cochrane was one of the most daring and successful naval heroes of all time. In this fascinating account of Cochrane's life, historian David Cordingly unearths startling new details about the real-life "Master and Commander", from his daring exploits against the French navy to his role in the liberation of Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and the shock exchange scandal that forced him out of England and almost ended his naval career.
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3 out of 5 stars
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There is a better book on Lord Cochrane
- By Mark G on 07-20-15
By: David Cordingly
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Jefferson's War
- America's First War on Terror, 1801-1805
- By: Joseph Wheelan
- Narrated by: Patrick Cullen
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 522
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 370
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 370
Two centuries ago, without congressional or public debate, a president who is thought of today as peaceable, Thomas Jefferson, launched America's first war on foreign soil, a war against terror. The enemy was Muslim; the war was waged unconventionally, with commandos, native troops, and encrypted intelligence, and launched from foreign bases.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Great Read
- By Donald on 06-19-05
By: Joseph Wheelan
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Captain James Cook
- By: Rob Mundle
- Narrated by: Paul English
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 123
Captain James Cook is one of the greatest maritime explorers of all time. Over three remarkable voyages of discovery into the Pacific in the latter part of the 18th century, Cook unravelled the oldest mystery surrounding the existence of Terra Australis Incognita - the Great South Land. He became the first explorer to circumnavigate New Zealand and establish that it was two main islands; discover the Hawaiian Islands for the British Empire; and left an enduring legacy.
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3 out of 5 stars
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High school history text?
- By peter on 08-31-22
By: Rob Mundle
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John Paul Jones
- Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy
- By: Evan Thomas
- Narrated by: Dan Cashman
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 123
John Paul Jones is more than a great sea story. Jones is a character for the ages. John Adams called him the "most ambitious and intriguing officer in the American Navy." The renewed interest in the Founding Fathers reminds us of the great men who made this country, but John Paul Jones teaches us that it took fighters as well as thinkers, men driven by dreams of personal glory as well as high-minded principle to break free of the past and start a new world. Jones' spirit was classically American.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Swashbuckler or Saviour
- By Bruce on 03-16-04
By: Evan Thomas
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Bunker Hill
- A City, a Siege, a Revolution
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,030
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,785
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,782
In the opening volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick turns his keen eye to pre-Revolutionary Boston and the spark that ignited the American Revolution. In the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party and the violence at Lexington and Concord, the conflict escalated and skirmishes gave way to outright war in the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was the bloodiest conflict of the revolutionary war, and the point of no return for the rebellious colonists.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another Fantastic Story by Philbrick
- By Rick on 09-30-13
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Wolf of the Deep
- Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama
- By: Stephen Fox
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
In July 1862, Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes took command of a secret new warship. At the helm of the Alabama, he became the most hated and feared man along the Union coast, as well as a Confederate legend. Now, with unparalleled authority, depth, and a vivid sense of the excitement and danger of the time, Stephen Fox describes Captain Semmes's remarkable wartime exploits.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Wolf of the Deep
- By Sammi on 08-18-07
By: Stephen Fox