Interesting (but not fascinating) story of a man living on two continents (and the seas) in the late 1700's. Great insight into the broken systems of the time that existed in Great Britain, the fledgling U.S., and Russia. Amazing that two out of those three overcame their history. ( )

Born in Scotland to a gardener and a housekeeper, John Paul went to sea at 13, fought for the fledgling American navy during the revolution and became known as “the father of the continental navy.” He later fought for Russia, with the blessing of American leaders, after the U.S. gained independence. He originally fled to America, and added “Jones” to his name, after the possibly accidental killing of a mutineer aboard a ship.

His skill as a Captain, seaman and naval tactician was surpassed only by his ambition, quest for recognition and inability to share credit for success. Despite his deserved and formidable reputation as a fighter at sea his poorer qualities would scuttle many of his career ambitions.
“He would have had faster and better ships to sail in harm’s way if he had followed Franklin’s advice and shared credit more generously and if he had been less prickly and pushy with is superiors. Jones was sufficiently self-aware to know what to do, but tragically incapable of doing it.”

Jones died in Paris at age forty-five, never having achieved his dream of flag rank in a true “blue water” navy. ( )

This book appears to offer an honest view of John Paul Jones, and discusses what appears to be historically accurate, and what appears to be unsubstantiated legend. Like most biographies, a book tends to be only as exciting as the person described. But if books about the sea and sea captains interest you, there's enough in this book to keep one interested. ( )

A perfectly serviceable popular biography of John Paul Jones, very useful as an introduction. Not outstanding, but completely acceptable, and Thomas does well to bust a few Jones myths that have sprung up over the years. ( )

The summary is correct: the description of Jones' engagement on USS Bonhomme Richard with HMS Serapis was indeed engaging. However, the minutiae of Jones' incessant, prigish, whining about his career must have gotten on the nerves of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, etc. A self described naval strategist, he had many opinions which he freely shared with members of Congress or anyone who would listen. I had a hard time with this book because it droned on about relationships with count-this and duke-that. It took me months to finish listening. ( )