To Swear like a Sailor

Paul Gilje is a George Lynn Cross Research Professor at the University of Oklahoma. His book Liberty on the Waterfront (2003) won the best book award from the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. He is the author or editor of ten other books, including, most recently, Free Trade and Sailors' Rights in the War of 1812 (2013). He has lectured throughout the United States and in Europe and has received numerous grants to support his research. In 2009–10, he served as President of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic.

• Introduction; 1. To swear like a sailor; 2. The language of Jack Tar; 3. The logbook of memory; 4. Spinning yarns; 5. Songs of the sailorman; 6. The pirates' own book; 7. Tar-stained images; Epilogue. The sea chest.

'From the pen of a premier historian of early working and seafaring Americans comes a fascinating new work of cultural history. To Swear like a Sailor starts with the idea that language offers a window into the intellect and the 'soul' of the user. Gilje sets out to study the expressions of his saltwater people in literally every form he can trace: curses, jargon, log books, yarns, songs, and drawings. A clever epilogue on the sea chest as the container of a sailor's trove of worldly possessions packs the whole subject back into a carrying case. The execution is both artful and accessible.' John L. Larson, Purdue University, and author of The Market Revolution