The first captive -- The twelve-year-old midshipman -- 'The crazy capital' -- Cast into the den of lions -- 'Our sufferings is beyond your conception' -- 'A black eye, a broken leg, and credentials from congress' -- The undiplomatic diplomat -- The threshold of pain -- 'If there were no Algiers, I would have to build one' -- Hannah and Isaac -- Lions and tigers and rats -- The man who made a million -- The Hassan whisperer -- Welcome to the mad house -- It's a new dawn, it's a new Dey, it's a new life -- 'That is our liberty in sweet America' -- Cape desolation -- Clipping the eagle's wings -- Scipio -- 'Now I have got you, you shall eat stones' -- the attack on Scipio -- an Englishman and two Irishmen walk into a bar -- 'Get out of my sight, thou dog without a soul!' -- 'A dazzling meteor in a dark night' -- The one that got away -- A poet in purgatory -- The Dey's last command -- 'Scipio was in his grave before sunset' -- A voyage to save the peace -- 'An adieu to the land of bondage'

"This page-turning narrative follows the twists and turns of the life of hostage-turned-diplomat James Leander Cathcart upon the international stage of diplomacy, trade, and maritime statecraft at a time when America's place in the world was hanging in the balance"--