Book Review: 'Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy'
Cover of the paperback edition of Six Frigates. (C) 2008 W.W. Norton & Company On October 17, 2006, W.W. Norton & Company published Ian W. Toll's Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy. In its 500+ pages, Toll (a former political speechwriter and financial analyst) tells the incredible story of the founding of the United States Navy during the Presidential tenures of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Set in the tumultuous early years of the Republic, Six Frigates follows the events and personalities that led to the appropriation, construction, and eventual deployment of the Navy's first post-Revolutionary War frigates: USS United States, USS Constellation, USS Constitution, USS Chesapeake, USS Congress, and USS President. Before the ink was dry on the U.S. Constitution, the establishment of a permanent military became the most divisive issue facing the new government. The founders―particularly Jefferson, Madison, and Adams―debated...