Mutiny On The Rising Sun

A little-known story of mutiny and murder illustrating the centrality of smuggling and slavery in early American society On the night of June 1, 1743, terror struck the schooner Rising Sun. After completing a routine smuggling voyage where the crew sold enslaved Africans in exchange for chocolate, sugar, and coffee in the Dutch colony of Suriname, the ship traveled eastward along the South American coast. Believing there was an opportunity to steal the lucrative cargo and make a new life for themselves, three sailors snuck below deck, murdered four people, and seized control of the vessel. Mutiny on the Rising Sun recounts the origins, events, and eventual fate of the Rising Sun’s final smuggling voyage in vivid detail. Starting from that horrible night in June 1743, it narrates a deeply human history of smuggling, providing an incredible story of those caught in the webs spun by illicit commerce. The case generated a rich documentary record that illuminates an international chocolate smuggling ring, the lives of the crew and mutineers, and the harrowing experience of the enslaved people trafficked by the Rising Sun. Smuggling stood at the center of the lives of everyone involved with the business of the schooner. Larger forces, such as imperial trade restrictions, created the conditions for smuggling, but individual actors, often driven by raw ambition and with little regard for the consequences of their actions, designed, refined, and perpetuated this illicit commerce. At once startling and captivating, Mutiny on the Rising Sun shows how illegal trade created demand for exotic products like chocolate, and how slavery and smuggling were integral to the development of American capitalism.

The surprising alliance between Japan and pro-Tokyo African Americans during World War II In November 1942 in East St. Louis, Illinois a group of African Americans engaged in military drills were eagerly awaiting a Japanese invasion of the U.S.— an invasion that they planned to join. Since the rise of Japan as a superpower less than a century earlier, African Americans across class and ideological lines had saluted the Asian nation, not least because they thought its very existence undermined the pervasive notion of “white supremacy.” The list of supporters included Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and particularly W.E.B. Du Bois. Facing the Rising Sun tells the story of the widespread pro-Tokyo sentiment among African Americans during World War II, arguing that the solidarity between the two groups was significantly corrosive to the U.S. war effort. Gerald Horne demonstrates that Black Nationalists of various stripes were the vanguard of this trend—including followers of Garvey and the precursor of the Nation of Islam. Indeed, many of them called themselves “Asiatic”, not African. Following World War II, Japanese-influenced “Afro-Asian” solidarity did not die, but rather foreshadowed Dr. Martin Luther King’s tie to Gandhi’s India and Black Nationalists’ post-1970s fascination with Maoist China and Ho’s Vietnam. Based upon exhaustive research, including the trial transcripts of the pro-Tokyo African Americans who were tried during the war, congressional archives and records of the Negro press, this book also provides essential background for what many analysts consider the coming “Asian Century.” An insightful glimpse into the Black Nationalists’ struggle for global leverage and new allies, Facing the Rising Sun provides a complex, holistic perspective on a painful period in African American history, and a unique glimpse into the meaning of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

''Hymn to the Rising Sun, '' a grim prison drama from the 1930's, takes place in the barracks of a rural Southern work camp in the early morning on the Fourth of July, and the idea of the cruelly incarcerated waking to Independence Day is the irony that thrums loudly throughout the play. --NY Times, Feb. 5, 2001.

When we think about World War II bombers, we picture formations of scores of bombers, escorted and protected by fighters, flying into enemy territory and bombing the hell out of the enemy. In Europe and usually the Pacific, this was the standard approach, but some bomber squadrons flew a different kind of mission. This was the case for VPB-117 – the Blue Raiders – unique not only because its B-24 Liberators flew for the U.S. Navy and not the Army, but also because most of the Raiders’ missions entailed bombers venturing out over the Pacific, alone, to seek and destroy on long-range missions of a thousand miles out and a thousand back, often at altitudes close enough for sea spray to cloud their windows. This is their story.

This book examines the rise and the fall of the Russian Empire through the lens of its military history. While much of the literature on this history tends to focus on epochs, The Russian Military and the Creation of Empire uses a variety of archival sources to capture this aspect of modern Russia from Peter the Great right up to the present day. John W. Steinberg analyzes the social dynamic between Russian society and its military over time. Through a focus on civil-military relations, he demonstrates that both the Tsarist and Soviet regimes were built on, and ultimately dependent upon, the support of the military. Case studies of significant battles are also used throughout the volume to reveal insights into the roles, missions, and capabilities of the Russian military since 1689. The Russian Military and the Creation of Empire is a vital study for all students of modern Russia and the history of modern warfare.

"History records that on April 28, 1789 Fletcher Christian led a mutiny of the crew of the HMS Bounty . Captain William Bligh and eighteen other men were put aboard a 23 foot launch south of the island of Tofoa in the South Pacific.Afraid of sailors' stories of cannibalism and human sacrifice among islanders in this part of the Pacific, Bligh and his men began a journey of more than 4,000 miles that ultimately led them back to England. And what became of Christian? It is equally well known to historians that he and his crew settled on Pitcairn Island, where descendants of the Bounty still live more than 2 centuries later. What isn't well known is that historical records indicate Fletcher Christian escaped Pitcairn and also returned to England.