The books in this section are usually hardcover and in decent condition, though we'll sometimes offer hard-to-find books in lesser condition at a reduced price. Though we often put images of the book with their original dust jackets, the copies here won't always (or even often) have them. If that is important to you, please call ahead or say so in the order comments!
"On the 10th of September, 1813, gun-smoke hung so thick over the cluttered, blood-splashed deck of the brig U.S.S. Lawrence that the few members of her crew still on their feet appeared like wraiths . . . as they struggled to serve her last useful cannon."
For nearly three hours the glassy calm of Lake Erie had been reflecting the cannon flashes of the British and American squadrons. Young Commodore Perry and his twelve-year-old brother, Midshipman Jim, had been under constant fire, on the totally disabled flagship Lawrence. The Commodore now made the bold decision to board the almost unharmed U.S.S. Niagara. Taking with him his Commodore's pendant, and a blue battle flag reading "Don't Give Up The Ship," he was rowed through the smoke of battle across the seemingly endless stretch of lake between the ships. Once he arrived aboard his new flagship, the battle began again in earnest.
F. van Wyck Mason knows how ships are built, rigged, armed and sailed. He knows how sailors, militia, shipbuilders and Indians looked, talked, ate, drank and fought along the wild frontier. This is a vivid, and sometimes violent story, historically accurate and extremely exciting. In reading this book you will feel that you, yourself, were on deck as American cannon thundered during the Battle of Lake Erie.
—from the dust jacket
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