Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates

Originally published as Jihad at Sea. America's very first encounter with Radical Islam actually occurred as far back as 1784 when the merchant ship Betsey was attacked by Moroccan pirates off the coast of North Africa. America's experience with Islamic terrorism didn't start with 9/11. Nor did it begin with the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut in 1983. Since 1983, American citizens and facilities throughout the world have been victimized dozens of times by Islamic terrorists. The USS Cole bombing, 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and Orlando are among the better known attacks. The taking of the Betsey and her crew in 1784 was the first in a long list of costly incidents in the Mediterranean Sea along the Barbary Coast of Africa. These Barbary Pirates were motivated by more than greed. They justified their plunder and killing by citing Mohammad's and Allah's commands to wage jihad against infidels. The conflicts between Americans and the Barbary Pirates are known as the Barbary War, a war many modern Americans have forgotten or never knew about in the first place. Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates is an historical novel that brings to life that Forgotten War.