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A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN | 
 enlarge | Author: James Tertius De Kay
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 518767
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0743242459
Dewey Decimal Number: 359.0092
EAN: 9780743242455
ASIN: 0743242459
Publication Date: January 6, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: ex-library edition - still nice
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Excellent overview, keeping items in context December 9, 2007
Timothy P. Scanlon (Hyattsville, MDUSA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I tend to shy away from "biographies" of military "heroes." When one looks deeper into their history, you'll find they weren't quite as macho as they made themselves out to be. Or they were so idiosyncratic as to be of dubious merit in civilian life. I think of both Patton and MacArthur to whom both of those value judgements apply.
When you pass by the Decatur House in Washington, adjacent to the White House, you think of a guy who died there, pretty young, after a spat with another navy commodore, James Barron. One is always to reflect of Stephen's heroism; that comes with the territory.
It turns out that such behavior was true!
Decatur wasn't an academic success. So, Decatur became midshipman.
One must keep in context that, at the time of Decatur's birth, the new nation didn't want a navy. It was an expensive commodity, and many of the "founding fathers" were afraid that the military may run the country if given a blank check. But we were threatened in North Africa by the Barbary pirates, which, in essence, put Decatur on the map. He was assigned to the ship the United States, and one of his officers--and friends--was James Barron.
Barron, incidentally, was later shamed over his loss of a ship, and unsubstantiated allegations by another officer of Barron's lack of loyalty. That's what led to his distance from Commodore Decatur.
Later, when the USS Philadelphia had been taken by some of those pirates, Decatur and his crew sank the ship, despite the overwhelming odds against them. He did so with hand-to-hand combat on board the vessel, and that led to the "glory" in pursuit of which Decatur notorious, and for which the book is entitled.
That was the first of many heroic--note the lack of quotes around the word--activities of Decatur. Now, let me stress that I think luck plays into such heroics, too. But that doesn't detract that it took guts and strategy--and the ability to evoke loyalty from a crew--for Decatur to do what he did, most of which were quite successful, and earned him his laurels.
True, the book is relatively short. But unless you'd like to cover minute details of Decatur's life, many of them of dubious historical merit, it covered enough to give you a good view of the man.
Early in the text, the author covered how dueling was one of those badges of honor used particularly by navy men. Indeed, later in his career--ironically--Decatur established what I think they referred to as "Decatur' law," by which such duels were, in effect, mediated; lots of good officers would otherwise be lost over some pretty frivolous issues.
The author slides into the narrative the items that led to the eventual dual between Barron and Decatur, in which Barron was the victor. Several things happened which lead one to believe that Barron may have been wooed into the duel in the first place by another officer, Jesse Duncan Elliot. In any case, Decatur was courted adequately to the duel in which, by the terms issued by Barron, one was almost surely to die. (Keep in mind that in many a duel of the era, one or both of the dueling parties, shot their gun into the ground, thereby hurting no one, but preserving the "honor" of both.)
I was inclined to describe the duel in some detail, but that would give away too much of the book. I've already stated who was the "victor." But I'll let the reader do that.
After the duel, the author clearly summarizes what happened to the surviving parties. I was a little surprised that Decatur's wife, Susan, was so extravagant that she lost all the Decaturs had acquired including prize money, a healthy pension, etc. Barron ended his years in the navy...well, etc.
Overall, I think it's a pretty good book. Again, I don't get into 800 page details of such a guy's life, with footnotes galore, including what so-and-so claimed, and items that really don't mean much to me. The text did include just a little too much glorifying of the "founding fathers," and many lesser known figures. They were value judgements I might have been left on my own to make or not. But if you want something to put the platitudes and story of Decatur in context, and learn a few details of US and naval history, this is a pretty good book.
 "........To The Shores of Tripoli." September 27, 2007
John Boland (USA)
The Marine Hymn says, "From the halls of Moctezuma to the Shores of Tripoli." I always wondered about "the shores of Tripoli" part of that Hymn. I didn't learn anything in US History classes about it nor about "the hero" of Tripoli, Steven Decatur---at least until I read this book. Exciting reading about a true American Hero who lived at the beginning of our Country. Recommended! boland7214@aol
Life of a Great Naval Hero August 9, 2007
Night Eagle
This biography of one of our great naval heroes should inspire anyone. It is all the more relevant today because it deals with his conquest of the Barbary Pirates, whose philosophy is very similar to that which is held by many of the denizens of the same geographic area today.
We could learn some important lessons from his valiant actions and love of Country, and the bold response of Thomas Jefferson.
This is an excellent book December 29, 2004
Kenneth J. Festa
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you're a fan of historical novels, and sometimes suspect that the heroes in those stories strain credulity, then this book will disabuse you of that fear. True, it isn't a long book--it may not weigh enough to make a sufficiently loud thud when landing on the desk of an academic (I agree with a previous review's implication that it would not be a good reference book). But it makes for a compelling read, a fascinating story that is well-grounded in its historical context.
 I expected better June 29, 2004
Noah Count (Rochester, NY USA)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I ordered this book without too much thought as I had read James DeKay's previous book on the British, then American, frigate Macedonian. Decatur was responsible for the Macedonian's capture so I assumed that the biography was a natural fit. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to receive such a thin, light (in many senses of the word) tome. Perhaps, I'm attracted to more scholarly endeavors but I found the book slight where I longed for depth and detail. There was little new material in the book and sometimes I thought it was just a quick rehash of notes set down for the book on the Macedonian. That it came out about the time of the ill-fated Master and Commander movie makes me think it was also rushed. One of the founders of the American Navy living in such a colorful period of history and, in many ways, being the epitome of his time, deserves better.
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