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!
"Ghostlike in the moonlight, the Bonhomme Richard plowed toward the Serapis. At Flamborough Head, a few miles away, thousands of Englishmen climbed the heights and held their breaths while the two warships came together. They were sure of a naval victory and wanted to watch."
The English frigate Serapis was better armed and had more men than the battered Bonhomme Richard, but John Paul Jones had "not yet begun to fight." And it was his courage and leadership that led to one of the most significant British defeats—one which helped to turn the tide of war in the American colonies.
As a lad in Scotland John Paul (the Jones was added later) always loved the sea. He and his friends often played "Ships", a game in which they indentified passing vessels. So it was not unnatural that at the age of thirteen he should leave home to begin a career at sea.
His early years were stormy ones, for although he learned quickly, he could not control his fiery disposition and was unpopular with those he commanded. But gradually he mastered his temper, and by 1775 when he signed on the flagship of the American navy he was a respected and already famous seaman.
The story of John Paul Jones's life is just as exciting as the times in which he lived and the battles in which he fought, and Donald Worcester has deftly interwoven all three.
—from the book
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