Product Description
The extraordinary story of the mutiny aboard the frigate HMS Hermione in 1797 (eight years after the mutiny on the Bounty)—the bloodiest mutiny ever suffered by the Royal Navy, that led to the extradition from America, and the hanging by the British, of the martyred sailor Jonathan Robbins. This event plunged the two-decade-old American Republic into a constitutional crisis, and powerfully contributed to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election of 1800. It propelled to the fore the fundamental issue of political asylum and extradition, still being debated today—more than two hundred years later.
Reviews/Praise
"Zingarelli brings energy and flair to his performance . . . This recording is anything but dry and is strikingly topical in today’s global refugee crisis." —Booklist Audio Review
"A good, readable story in the mode of Nathaniel Philbrick’s nautical histories." —New York Times
"Beautifully written and engrossing, a book that should be of interest, to the historian, and to the general public." —James Roger Sharp, author of American Politics in the Early Republic
"Packed with drama. Ekirch tells this story with rich and powerful prose, demonstrating how this saga of the mutiny on the Hermione helped Americans develop their national identity during the early republic." —Paul A. Gilje, author of Liberty on the Waterfront
“One of the most important—and enjoyable—books I have read in many years . . . kirch's brilliant reconstruction is a triumph of historical research and analysis.” —Peter S. Onuf, Professor of History at the University of Virginia