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William H. White has been an historian specializing in the maritime heritage and American involvement in the Age of Sail for most of his adult life. A life-long sailor himself, he continues to sail and race actively in his home waters. He has sailed under square rig, giving him a knowledgeable and first hand insight to the complex workings of the vessels about which he writes. He served as an officer in the United States Navy in the ‘60’s and was actively involved in naval operations for three years in Viet Nam. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the USS Constitution Museum in Boston, the National Maritime Historical Society, on the board of advisors to the LYNX Educational Foundation, and as a consultant to the reproduction 1812 privateer Lynx. White has also been named a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society. His
War of 1812 Trilogy (A Press of Canvas, A Fine Tops’l Breeze,
and The Evening Gun – 2000-2001) was well received and he
lectures frequently on the War of 1812 and the Barbary Wars (1803-5). The
Greater The Honor, released in April 2003, centers on the Barbary Wars
and Stephen Decatur’s exploits in that theater. His newest effort, In Pursuit of Glory, is the sequel to The Greater The Honor, and deals with the events leading up to the War of 1812, especially the infamous Chesapeake/Leopard Incident. It follows the fictitious Oliver Baldwin and many actual characters of the period, including Stephen Decatur, Henry Allen, and John Rodgers as they enforce the Jeffersonian Embargoes, deal with British harassments, and finally, go to war. The story concludes with Decatur’s capture of the British frigate, HMS Macedonian and her arrival in Newport, RI as a prize. Speaking venues include USS Constitution Museum, Boston; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (MA); Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax (NS); Herreshoff Marine Museum, Bristol (RI); Calvert Maritime Museum, Solomons (MD); and India House, NYC, as well as many others. He has also been a guest lecturer at SUNY Maritime College, Fort Schuler NY. A member of the 1812 Consortium, Mr. White was one of the program speakers at the 2003 Fall War of 1812 Symposium in Baltimore, MD. White has authored, in addition to his novels, a variety of magazine articles on both historical and contemporary subjects. He has appeared on the History Channel on “History or Hollywood” as well as participating as one of the narrators in a “docu-drama” on the Barbary Wars, and has been interviewed numerous times on radio on varying subjects centered on maritime history. |
