Author: William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr.

William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr., is a former naval intelligence officer, government senior executive, and professor. He now researches, speaks, and writes on the naval heritage of Delaware. He is the author of two books, A Century of Service: The U.S. Navy on Cape Henlopen, Lewes, Delaware-1898-1996 (Cedar Tree Press, 2014) and American Naval Ships Named Delaware: Those Who Built Them and Sailed in Them (Delaware Heritage Commission).

Reviews Posted on

A Maritime History of the American Revolution

BOOK REVIEW: A Maritime History of the American Revolutionary War: An Atlantic-Wide Conflict Over Independence and Empire by Theodore Corbett (Pen and Sword Maritime, 2023) Theodore Corbett is scholar and university professor who has written a number of local area Revolutionary War histories: on the Hudson River Valley and Saratoga; New Castle, Delaware; Chestertown, Maryland; […]

by William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr.
Diplomacy Posted on

Prisoners of the Bashaw

BOOK REVIEW: Prisoners of the Bashaw: The Nineteen-Month of American Sailors in Tripoli, 1803–1805 by Frederick C. Leiner (Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2022) As the dust jacket says, this is the story of “The Nineteen-Month Captivity of American Sailors in Tripoli, 1803-1805.” Frederick C. Leiner, a lawyer by profession, as well as an historian and author of […]

by William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr.
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Critical Thinking Posted on

The Lewes Lighthouse Legend Re-examined and Re-interpreted

Those who write “local history” without documenting or citing their sources may as well be writing historical fiction. There may be some truth in what they write, but it is hard to sort out fact from fiction in local and family stories. Even experienced historians who ordinarily provide citations to primary sources—documents, letters and first […]

by William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr.