The Lost Hero of Cape Cod: Captain Asa Eldridge and the Maritime Trade That Shaped America

The Lost Hero of Cape Cod tells the story of an extraordinary nineteenth-century mariner... and of a morale-boosting victory for the young United States over Britain in the commercial battle that broke out on the Atlantic after the War of 1812. Born in a small village on Cape Cod in 1809 Asa Eldridge grew up to become one of the worlds greatest shipmasters. Even today he still holds the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a sailing ship which he set on a run from New York to Liverpool in 1854. But this record is only part of his story which includes voyages to numerous countries command of Cornelius Vanderbilts private yacht an early move into steamships and a mysterious end that eerily foreshadowed the Titanic disaster half a century later. In recounting Eldridges fascinating career Vincent Miles also tells a much broader story--of the rise of Americas merchant navy to a dominant position over Britains in the decades following the War of 1812 and of the government-subsidized British response that created the legendary Cunard Line. And along the way Miles offers a guided tour of the maritime trade that shaped America and a memorial to the courageous men who made it possible.