Stephen Decatur was one of the most awe-inspiring officers of the
entire Age of Fighting Sail. A real-life American naval hero in the
early nineteenth century, he led an astonishing life, and his
remarkable acts of courage in combat made him one of the most
celebrated figures of his era.
Decatur's dazzling exploits in the Barbary Wars propelled him to
national prominence at the age of twenty-five. His dramatic capture
of HMS "Macedonian" in the War of 1812, and his subsequent naval
and diplomatic triumphs in the Mediterranean, secured his permanent
place in the hearts of his countrymen. Handsome, dashing, and
fearless, his crews worshipped him, presidents lionized him, and an
adoring public heaped fresh honors on him with each new
achievement.
James Tertius de Kay is one of our foremost naval historians. In
"A Rage for Glory, " the first new biography of Decatur in almost
seventy years, he recounts Decatur's life in vivid colors. Drawing
on material unavailable to previous biographers, he traces the
origins of Decatur's fierce patriotism ("My country...right or
wrong!"), chronicles Decatur's passionate love affair with Susan
Wheeler, and provides new details of Decatur's tragic death in a
senseless duel of honor, secretly instigated by the backroom
machinations of jealous fellow officers determined to ruin him. His
death left official Washington in such shock that his funeral
became a state occasion, attended by friends who included former
President James Madison, current President James Monroe, Chief
Justice John Marshall, and ten thousand more.
Decatur's short but crowded life was an astonishing epic of
hubris, romance, and high achievement. Only a handful of Americans
since his time have ever come close to matching his extraordinary
glamour and brilliance.
General
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