Combining stirring naval warfare, intricate diplomatic negotiations, the saga of surviving imprisonment, and based on extensive primary source research, Prisoners of the Bashaw: The Nineteen-Month Captivity of American Sailors in Tripoli, 1803-1805 by Frederick C. Leiner tells the complete story of America’s first great hostage crisis. Frederick C. Leiner is a lawyer and an historian of American maritime history. His new book is Prisoners of the Bashaw: The Nineteen Month Captivity of American Sailors in Tripoli, 1803-1805. He has also written two other books: The End of Barbary Terror: America’s 1815 War Against the Pirates of North Africa (2006); and Millions for Defense: The Subscription Warships of 1798 (2000). In addition, he is the author of many articles on privateering, maritime prize cases, and the early navy. He is the longtime chairman of the maritime committee of the Maryland Center for History and Culture (formerly known as the Maryland Historical Society), where he serves as a trustee, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. He received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a graduate degree from Cambridge University, and his law degree from the University of Virginia.
