Breaking the Chains: The Royal Navy's War on White Slavery

After the Napoleonic wars ended, Western naval forces began a concerted effort to combat the high seas piracy and coastal slave raiding that had been practiced for centuries by the independent rulers of the Barbary States of North Africa. In this text, Pocock presents an account of the Royal Navy's role in that conflict, which was viewed by the Islamic world as a revival of the crusades. The focus is on the 1827 sea battle at Navarino, in which British forces and their allies defeated the Ottoman-Egyptian navy and assured the independence of Greece. Journalist Pocock is the author of ten books on naval history. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)