“Stephen Rensselaer was named after the famous and sometimes infamous Hudson Valley Stephen Van Rensselaers of earlier times. But years before Annapolis, and perhaps why he chose the Naval Academy, he came to associate his first name with that of Stephen Decatur, the youngest captain in the Navy’s history and the hero of the Barbary Wars, whose life was heroic, but whose death was not. Neither the Barbary pirates nor the British were able to kill
Stephen Decatur.”
Those are the opening lines to the first chapter of Mark Helprin’s novel The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, a War Story, A Love Story. The subtitle is a perfect description of this incredibly well written story—unlike any others I have reviewed.
Rensselaer is working at the Pentagon when he talks back to the President and is basically demoted to captain a new, smaller Navy ship. They’re sent to a war in the Persian Gulf, basically on a suicide mission. Three battles later, he and his crew accomplish the impossible and, having completed that mission, are assigned to patrolling the waters for pirates.
When a nearby small cruise ship is seized by inhumane Isis pirates, Rensselaer asks for permission to begin a rescue mission and is denied. Who will he listen to: his superiors or his conscience?
The author paints Rensselaer as articulate, masterful in planning missions, and morally upright. This well researched novel includes many naval details, but don’t let that deter you from reading it.
Oh, and there’s a love story woven through it, as well. As the book jacket says, it “masterfully extols the virtues of living by the laws of conscience, courage, decency, and sacrifice."
You really must read The Oceans and the Stars by Mark Helprin.
