Articles, Chapters, and Talks

In Maritime Contacts of the Past: Deciphering Connections Amongst Communities, ed. by Sila Tripati, 37–53. New Delhi: Delta Book World, 2014.

The study of Eurasia in the seventh century is dominated by the history of the origins of the Muslim caliphate and the Tang Dynasty. The first Tang emperor, Gaozu, ascended the throne in 618 AD, and the hegira took place in 622 AD, year one of the Muslim calendar. That these two developments should be so central is understandable. Within little more than a hundred years of its establishment, Islam was the dominant religion across an arc of Asia and Africa from Portugal to Kazakhstan, where it butted up against the armies of the Tang Dynasty, which had simultaneously pushed China’s borders west across two thousand miles of desert and steppe.More

International Journal of Maritime History 22:1 (2010): 205–28.

In the course of researching a maritime history of the world, I became aware of a vastly greater body of maritime literature than the armchair sailor—or armchair historian—usually encounters. I wondered whether this lack of awareness was due to my own want of initiative in recognizing or seeking out foreign works, or whether the corpus of maritime literature upon which historians, teachers and compilers of anthologies draw was too narrowly circumscribed.More

Itinerario 32:3 (2008): 7–21.

LP: I want to thank you for agreeing to talk to me about your career, your teaching, and your writing, and I thought we would divide the interview into three sections…

FFA: Rather like Gaul…

LP: Yes, but I don’t want to come, see, and conquer; I just want to elicit information…

FFA: You’re very welcome.More

Clio’s Psyche 10:3 (Dec. 2003): 91–99.

The United States’ invasion of Iraq has given rise to a long overdue debate about whether the Republic has become an empire and, if so, of what kind. Those who view the United States as an imperial power usually point to the Roman or British empires as relevant or even appropriate models, but their comparisons raise a number of objections. In the first place, however we choose to reinterpret Roman or British forms of imperial governance and law in hindsight, the ethical and ideological foundations of their empires are antithetical to the privileges, responsibilities, and freedoms embodied in the United States Constitution. There are echoes of Roman and British rule in the United States today, but they are—or should be—as faint as cosmic echoes of the big bang.More

Naval History 15.3 (2001): 20–25.

The war between the United States and Tripoli from 1801 to 1805 was the longest waged by the United States between the American Revolution and the Vietnam War. It was seven weeks longer than the Civil War and four months longer than U.S. involvement in World War II. Although neither side suffered heavy casualties, and the war was largely one of blockade and inshore action, rather than fleet or even single-ship engagements, this conflict well illustrates the limits and the potential of sea power, the conduct of international relations, and the establishment of national identity.More