Rating: 
Summary: Great year for naval readers.
Review: Get this book, and Edgar Vincent's "Nelson: Love and Fame" and Joel Hayward's "For God and Glory: Lord Nelson and His Way of War", and you have the three best books on naval warriors written in many years.
Rating: 
Summary: Tortured Genius
Review: Having last read about Jones as a youth, I was eager to read Evan Thomas' treatment of the colonial naval icon. Jones flight from prosecution and his engagement with the HMS Serapis made familiar reading. Especially well done is Thomas' treatment of Jone's 1778-79 raid on the English coast and, in particular Whitehaven and Kirkcudbright. Jones' audacity an vision preceded his time. The raids, while inflicting modest physical damage had a psychological impact -- in American and England -- akin to Doolittle's raiders' attack on Japan in 1942. The second area is Thomas' treatment of Jones' own psychology and character. As a visionary, Jones is painted in constant frustration as he rails against the status quo and bureacracy for more and better tools with which to implement his cosntanly emerging, creative strategies. Like another 20th Century warrior, General George S. Patton, Thomas paints Jones as a persistent (sometimes petty), contentious complainer, somewhat naive and frequently is his own worst enemy. And while a creative maritime mind, Jones found the U.S. naval service of the time an isolated "bully pulpit" from which to preach his evolutionary theories. Thomas book is well written. It moves with a comfortable pace without being bogged down in naval jargon (although the volume would have benefited from a glossary and good ship's diagram a'la Patrick O'Brian's Navy). While the claim "Father of the American Navy" can be debated, the reader closes the book with a clear view of Jone's significant contributions and a feeling of what more "might have been" had Jones been armed with resources rivaling the Royal Navy. A biography of John Paul Jones is as enthralling today as I found it years before.
Rating:
Summary: Tortured Genius
Review: Having last read about Jones as a youth, I was eager to read Evan Thomas' treatment of the colonial naval icon. Jones flight from prosecution and his engagement with the HMS Serapis made familiar reading. Especially well done is Thomas' treatment of Jone's 1778-79 raid on the English coast and, in particular Whitehaven and Kirkcudbright. Jones' audacity an vision preceded his time. The raids, while inflicting modest physical damage had a psychological impact -- in American and England -- akin to Doolittle's raiders' attack on Japan in 1942. The second area is Thomas' treatment of Jones' own psychology and character. As a visionary, Jones is painted in constant frustration as he rails against the status quo and bureacracy for more and better tools with which to implement his cosntanly emerging, creative strategies. Like another 20th Century warrior, General George S. Patton, Thomas paints Jones as a persistent (sometimes petty), contentious complainer, somewhat naive and frequently is his own worst enemy. And while a creative maritime mind, Jones found the U.S. naval service of the time an isolated "bully pulpit" from which to preach his evolutionary theories. Thomas book is well written. It moves with a comfortable pace without being bogged down in naval jargon (although the volume would have benefited from a glossary and good ship's diagram a'la Patrick O'Brian's Navy). While the claim "Father of the American Navy" can be debated, the reader closes the book with a clear view of Jone's significant contributions and a feeling of what more "might have been" had Jones been armed with resources rivaling the Royal Navy. A biography of John Paul Jones is as enthralling today as I found it years before.
Rating:
Summary: John Paul Jones - A Big Little Man
Review: Hip, hip, hooray and a five star salute for a readable biography of John Paul Jones! For any fan of the American Revolution, this account of our "Father of the American Navy" fills a lacuna in history books. What role did the navy play in our fight for freedom? Where did the men and their captains come from? What were the naval battles really like? With descriptions worthy of the sea story master Patrick O'Brian, the life and society of an 18th century man of adventure is detailed. We follow John Paul Jones from his obscure beginnings in Scotland to his role in the American Revolution to his pathetic escapade in Russia.
Scrupulously honest and persistently explaining the captain's many character flaws, Thomas obviously thinks highly of his subject and leaves the reader admiring the man whose body lies entombed in splendor while in life is described as a "desperado," "pirate" and "little Jones."
Interesting, well researched, a good biography.
Rating:
Summary: Sensational
Review: I agree with those reviewers below who believe that this book is one of the two best books on naval (and national) heroes written this years, the other being Joel Hayward's highly original and acclaimed "FOR GOD AND GLORY: LORD NELSON AND HIS WAY OF WAR". This is a great year for those of us who want to get inside the minds of larger-than-life characters like Jones and Nelson.
Rating: 
Summary: Jones was not the Father of the American Navy
Review: I gave the book a neutral rating of three stars because I have not yet read it and for good reason. The reason for my review here is a matter of indignant protest that the author calls Jones "the Father of the American Navy" when that title has always referred to Commodore John Barry, never before to Jones. Barry was awarded the Navy's very first Commission from Pres. Washington, was an amazing naval hero during the Revolution and was offered command in the Royal Navy during the war but turned it down without a moment of hesitation. Because Barry was a devout Irish Catholic (went to Mass every day even while at sea) he has forever been overlooked, as a carryover of the time in which he lived, by both the writers of academic history textbooks and by most historians. Barry was a good, moral and exemplary man without stain on his character in any way. John Paul Jones made an indisputable great contribution to his country during the Revolution, but having a really great sound bite does not qualify him to replace John Barry as the Father of the Navy. I urge anyone interested to please do some research on the real Father of the Navy after you read the Jones book. (a wonderful painting was done of Barry by the famed Gilbert Stuart that hangs in the White House, in case anyone is interested)
Rating:
Summary: john paul jones
Review: i read this book because of a very positive review in the NY Times, skeptical that a book about JP Jones would be particularly interesting. this is a fascinating and exceptioinally well written book! Like many, I find this era of history, and this aspect of revolutionary war history to be interesting. However, even more interesting, and certainly more instructive in many ways, is the personal history of john paul jones. in some ways, he was like richard nixon: a brilliant, though highly flawed individual whose story can provide personal lessons to us today. finally, evan thomas is a gifted biographer and historian. This was an extremely enjoyable book to read, not only because of the content, but particularly because of Mr. Thomas's writing: he makes history come alive!
Rating:
Summary: Forgotten Hero and Founding Father
Review: I will be at the Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, DC tomorrow to meet Mr. Thomas (Author). I guess the most important question I will ask him is what motivated him to write about such an important figure and why is Jones so forgotten in our history discussions. You have to think in terms of that era to understand the importance of sea power to the combatants. It is like the importance of our airforce in conflicts today. Jones started his life in a tough situation and because of his demeanor his life was filled with drama. As the heros are lined up for us to review and learn about (Washington, Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Clay, Franklin, and Adams) we seem to forget about the one guy that made a difference at sea and took the fight to the British. I read John Adams and several books of the revolutionary war era and I must say Mr. Thomas's book is a must read in order to "complete the circle" and get a different perspective and view of this most important conflict. I recommend this book for every Americans personal and public library.
Rating:
Summary: Among the very best history books of the year.
Review: In my opinion these are the best new history books of the last year (in no specific order): Evan Thomas, JOHN PAUL JONES; Simon Winchester, KRAKATOA; James Loewen, LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME; Joel Hayward, FOR GOD AND GLORY; Anthony Beevor, THE FALL OF BERLIN. Thomas and Hayward analyse outstanding warriors (John Paul Jones and Lord Nelson, and do so with all the talents one expects of writers). Empathetically and skilfully, Thomas has portrayed John Paul Jones with much more psychological credibility and consistency than the previous "standard" biographer, the patrician Samuel Eliot Morison. We now see a new J-P-Jones: he's a real Jones, a flawed Jones; a great Jones.
The author visited Jones's birthplace in Scotland and spent time aboard sailing ships (he's an accomplished sailor, anyway); he revisited a wealth of documentation. He tried to get inside the man's mind. The resulting portrait of a ruthlessly ambitious, social-climbing naval genius with almost no fear is essential reading for anyone wondering how America's great fleets ever came to dominate the seas.
Rating:
Summary: Medicore hero, medicore book
Review: It is an interesting formula for literary success. Take a man whose career was a footnote to momentous events and produce a book which mirrors this relationship. Is the book "balanced" or just muddled? We will never know, because Mr. Thomas could not refrain from bombarding us with his opinions and conjectures at every possible opportunity. Next time, Mr. Thomas stick with the facts.
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