Bestselling Author Dolin To Speak At Tewksbury Public Library Tuesday

TEWKSBURY, MA —The Tewksbury Public Library will welcome bestselling author and historian Eric Jay Dolin on Tuesday to discuss his new book about the privateer boat operators who helped win the American Revolutionary War.

Dolan will discuss the book "Rebels At Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution" from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Meeting Room at the library, located at 300 Chandler Street. The event is free, though registration is required and available on the library's website.

The program also will be shown live on the Town of Tewksbury's YouTube Channel.

According to the book's promotional materials, the story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told previously. However, historical accounts often omit details about the thousands of privateers who tormented the British on the Atlantic and in bays and harbors on both sides of the ocean.

In the book, Dolin tells the story of "the ragtag fleet of private vessels, from 20-foot whaleboats to 40-cannon men-of-war, that truly revealed the new nation's character —above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos."

The privateers were armed with cannons, swivel guns, muskets and pikes, in addition to government documents granting them the right to seize enemy ships.

Though they often were viewed as profiteers or even pirates, these sailors were critical to the Revolution's outcome, according to Dolin.

Dolin is the author of 15 books including "Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America," which was chosen as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe.

Dolin's 2020 book "Rebels at Sea in a Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year-History of America's Hurricanes" was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and was chosen as one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post and the editors at Amazon. Additionally, "Rebels" was selected as a "Must Read" by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

More information about Dolin, a Marblehead resident, is available on the author's website.