Barbary Jihad (Maritime Series Book 4)

America and her ships may change, but the Monroe boys are always drawn to the sea.

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Once captured and enslaved in Tripoli, Thomas Watson has escaped at last and vowed never to return. Susannah Wilcox secretly longs for adventure, and is thrilled when she is sent to Naples to finish her education. Jules Monroe is freeborn, but longs to prove to himself and the wider world that he is a man, out on the sea with his cousin Samuel. Their stories all meet in 1803 aboard the Philadelphia , a 36-gun frigate. Unfortunately, the ship has fallen into the hand of Barbery pirates, and such a powerful weapon will allow them to decimate the United States’ fledgling navy.

Barbary Jihad is a thrilling tale of naval warfare on the high seas, the fourth of best-selling author Douglas Wilson’s historical children’s stories. The four books of the Maritime Series follow the seafaring adventures of the Monroe family from the eighteenth century through modern times. America and her ships may change, but the Monroe boys are always drawn to the sea.

Canonball Books is the children's imprint of Canon Press. At Canonball, we believe stories are soul food, so you can expect excitement, danger, loyalty, virtue, and family in your Canonball books. Feed your kids the right books!

From the Book

A Barbary guard was standing in front of a cabin door. The guard had been listening to the fighting topside and was anxious to be anywhere else but where he was. When Thomas took a step toward him, saber uplifted, he bolted in the opposite direction. He needed no second invitation. As he went, Thomas saw the ring of keys on his belt, and in deep anger threw his saber after him. As he told the story afterward, he acknowledged that sabers were not made for throwing, and that he could not do the same thing again in a thousand tries, but the fact remains that the saber struck the guard in the small of the back, point first. He lurched forward into a ladder that went topside, climbed two rungs of it, and then fell backward, dead. Thomas ran forward, rolled the guard over, pulled his saber out, and slashed the keys from his belt. – from the book