A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers Book PDF, ePub eBook

Join our eBook service for unlimited books & audiobooks. Get a free 7 day subscription! ↓↓↓↓↓


Book Descriptions:
Mutiny on the Bounty is one of history's greatest naval stories -- yet few know the similar tale from America's own fledgling navy in the dying days of the Age of Sail, a tale of mutiny and death at sea on an American warship.

In 1842, the brig-of-war Somers set out on a training cruise for apprentice seamen, commanded by rising star Alexander Mackenzie. Somers was crammed with teenagers. Among them was Acting Midshipman Philip Spencer, a disturbed youth and a son of the U.S. Secretary of War. Buying other crew members' loyalty with pilfered tobacco and alcohol, Spencer dreamed up a scheme to kill the officers and turn Somers into a pirate ship.

In the isolated world of a warship, a single man can threaten the crew's discipline and the captain's authority. But one of Spencer's followers warned Mackenzie, who arrested the midshipman and chained him and other ringleaders to the quarterdeck. Fearing efforts to rescue the prisoners, officers had to stay awake in round-the-clock watches. Steering desperately for land, sleep-deprived and armed to the teeth, battling efforts to liberate Spencer, Somers's captain and officers finally faced a fateful choice: somehow keep control of the vessel until reaching port -- still hundreds of miles away -- or hang the midshipman and his two leading henchmen before the boys could take over the ship.

The results shook the nation. A naval investigation of the affair turned into a court-martial and a state trial and led to the founding of the Naval Academy to provide better officers for the still-young republic. Mackenzie's controversial decision may have inspired Herman Melville's great work Billy Budd. The story of Somers raises timeless questions still disturbing in twenty-first-century America: the relationship between civil and military law, the hazy line between peace and war, the battle between individual rights and national security, and the ultimate challenge of command at sea.

A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers by Buckner Melton

From reader reviews:

Gary Lewis:

Have you spare time for a day? What do you do when you have considerably more or little spare time? Yep, you can choose the suitable activity to get spend your time. Any person spent their own spare time to take a move, shopping, or went to the actual Mall. How about open or even read a book titled A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers? Maybe it is to become best activity for you. You realize beside you can spend your time with your favorite's book, you can cleverer than before. Do you agree with it has the opinion or you have additional opinion?

Karen Jude:

This A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers book is simply not ordinary book, you have it then the world is in your hands. The benefit you obtain by reading this book will be information inside this publication incredible fresh, you will get facts which is getting deeper you actually read a lot of information you will get. This particular A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers without we realize teach the one who reading through it become critical in contemplating and analyzing. Don't be worry A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers can bring whenever you are and not make your handbag space or bookshelves' turn out to be full because you can have it in the lovely laptop even mobile phone. This A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers having great arrangement in word and also layout, so you will not feel uninterested in reading.

Thomas Williamson:

Reading a e-book tends to be new life style with this era globalization. With examining you can get a lot of information that will give you benefit in your life. Along with book everyone in this world could share their idea. Textbooks can also inspire a lot of people. Plenty of author can inspire their reader with their story or maybe their experience. Not only the storyplot that share in the books. But also they write about the knowledge about something that you need illustration. How to get the good score toefl, or how to teach your young ones, there are many kinds of book which exist now. The authors in this world always try to improve their expertise in writing, they also doing some study before they write with their book. One of them is this A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers.

Tara Winston:

This A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers is brand-new way for you who has interest to look for some information given it relief your hunger details. Getting deeper you on it getting knowledge more you know otherwise you who still having little bit of digest in reading this A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers can be the light food for you personally because the information inside this kind of book is easy to get through anyone. These books produce itself in the form and that is reachable by anyone, yeah I mean in the e-book contact form. People who think that in guide form make them feel tired even dizzy this publication is the answer. So you cannot find any in reading a reserve especially this one. You can find actually looking for. It should be here for anyone. So , don't miss the idea! Just read this e-book kind for your better life along with knowledge.