Commanding Petty Despots

Reviews / Votes

"With thought-provoking analysis, Sheppard clearly explains how honor, fame, and duty motivated officers of the early U.S. Navy. The result is a vivid history detailing the relationship between naval officers of the new republic and their civilian officials. This is an important work for anyone interested in the U.S. Navy in the Age of Sail." -Kevin D. McCranie, author of Utmost Gallantry: The U.S. and Royal Navies at Sea in the War of 1812 and Mahan, Corbett, and the Foundations of Naval Strategic Thought

"Beneath the oft-told history of the cruises, the ship-to-ship battles, and the heroic captains of the United States Navy of 1798-1820 Thomas Sheppard has discovered another story: the slow, often fraught, but ultimately successful evolution of control of the Navy and naval policy from the dominating direction of larger-than-life commodores-whether Thomas Truxtun or John Rodgers-to the civilian Secretaries of the Navy." -Christopher Mckee, author of Ungentle Goodnights: Life in a Home for Elderly and Disabled Naval Sailors and Marines and the Perilous Seafaring Careers that Brought Them There

"In Commanding Petty Despots, Thomas Sheppard's sparkling prose and impeccable scholarship make his story of the early American navy both vivid and insightful. The result is a superb book that will inform knowledgeable scholars and delight mainstream audiences in equal measure." -David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, award-winning authors of Henry Clay: The Essential American, Washington's Circle: The Creation of the President, and The Rise of Andrew Jackson

"Sheppard's engaging account analyzes the complex interactions that led to the emergence of the U.S. Navy as an institution. He describes how formative principles like aggressive action, fierce independence, and a firm commitment to the primacy of civilian authority established a foundation that influences the Navy to this day." -Trent Hone, author of Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 and co-author of Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939

"Thomas Sheppard has given us a judiciously crafted, riveting investigation focused on the founding of the U.S. Navy amid widespread tensions between civilian leaders and ranking officers. Deserves an abundance of compliments as an incisive study of efforts to balance civil-military relations in the Navy during the early decades of the new American republic." -James Kirby Martin, co-author of Surviving Dresden: A Novel about Life, Death, and Redemption in World War II

"With deep research, careful analysis, and beautiful prose, Thomas Sheppard explains how and why the U.S. Navy embraced the Constitution's requirement for civilian control. This engaging book is indispensable to an understanding of the origins of the Navy's professionalism. Every military officer should know the story, and ponder its message." -Richard H. Kohn, professor emeritus of History and Peace, War, and Defense, and former chief of Air Force History, 1981-1991

"This study begins in 1813 with James Lawrence, captain of the Chesapeake, and his disastrous encounter with the Royal Navy's frigate Shannon, commanded by Philip Broke . . . to be sure, this scholarly study is also accessible and informative for anyone interested in this period of Navy history and is highly recommended." - Journal of America's Military Past

"This fine book covers a very unusual subject. It does so, though, very well. It describes the development of an effective naval culture, particularly a command culture, during the first thirty years or so of the life of the United States Navy." -Baird Marine

"If you're looking for insight into how and when the USN's administrative structures were built, this is the book for you." -NYMAS Review

"In Commanding Petty Despots, Thomas Sheppard has provided a concise but excellent over- view of the relations between the fledgling US Navy and its civilian leaders. This book will be essential reading for naval historians with interest in the American Revolution and early republic, as well as for scholars with a more general interest in US civil-military relations." -H-Net
Sheppard takes a refreshingly revisionist view of the Naval Peace Establishment Act of 1801, which reduced the US Navy to nine captains and 36 lieutenants and is often seen as the bane of the Navy's existence. Sheppard provides an important gloss on the early republic's navy. He builds a strong case that over time, "ideas of personal honor gave way to a more modern sensibility that expected men of honor to put the national or institutional good ahead of their own quest for status." Along the way, Commanding Petty Despots provides vignettes that demonstrate the role of honor, as well as the ways that secretaries of the navy tried to assert control over their zealous officers. Well conceived, well researched, and well written, Commanding Petty Despots is a fine addition to the history of the sailing navy. -- Sea History