Fire on the High Seas

Fire on the High Seas: America's Undeclared War with FranceBefore the War of 1812, before the Barbary Wars, there was a conflict most Americans have never heard of — and yet it changed everything.In 1798, the young United States found itself in an undeclared naval war with France, its former Revolutionary ally. What began as a diplomatic insult — French agents demanding bribes before they would even speak to American envoys — exploded into a two-year campaign of cannon fire across the Caribbean, political crisis at home, and a constitutional showdown that nearly tore the republic apart.Fire on the High Seas tells the full story of the Quasi-War: the XYZ Affair that shocked a nation, the frigates that gave America its naval identity, the brilliant Captain Thomas Truxtun whose guns silenced France's finest warships, and the courageous President John Adams who chose peace over power when the entire country was crying for war.From the desperate night battle between USS Constellation and La Vengeance to the backroom intrigue of Talleyrand's Paris, this is the story of how a young republic — outgunned, underfunded, and deeply divided — stood its ground against one of the most powerful nations on earth, and in doing so, built the Navy that would defend America for generations to come.Ten in-depth chapters. Eleven major battles. The forgotten war that forged a nation.