For Love of Country is the second novel of the early American republic
in the nautical series from William Hammond. Set in the early 1780s, in
the years following the American Revolution, it features the adventures
of the seafaring Cutler family of Hingham, Massachusetts, and the
supporting cast from the first novel of the series, A Matter of Honor.
Hammond offers an exciting look at life in the young republic, a time
when America remained a weak nation with no navy to protect its
prosperous merchant fleet from Barbary pirates and European nations
intent on crippling its shipping.
The novel opens with the capture of the Cutler merchant brig Eagle by
Barbary pirates. Young Caleb Cutler and his shipmates are taken as
prisoners to Algiers. Richard, his brother, is then sent to North Africa
to pay the ransom demanded by the Dey of Algiers to free them. When the
dey rejects the offer, Richard must defend his ship and the ransom from
attack by Algerian pirates. After repulsing the pirates in a fierce
battle at sea, Richard travels to Paris to report to John Paul Jones,
his former naval commander, who has been dispatched to serve as
America's emissary to the Barbary States. In Paris, amid the tumult of
the French Revolution, Richard engages in a desperate attempt to save
his former lover, the beautiful Anne-Marie Helvtian, and her two
daughters from the guillotine.
The author's careful historical research and thorough knowledge of
sailing and the ways of the sea bring authenticity to the novel without
detracting from the entertaining storyline. Hammond's focus on the
American perspective of the Age of Fighting Sail in the years following
the American Revolution adds a fresh dimension to historical novels of
the period.
