Historian Robert Allison tells the story of Stephen Decatur's eventful life at a time when the young republic was developing its own identity. Born to a prominent Philadelphia family in 1779, Decatur became the youngest man ever to serve as a captain in the US Navy at age 25.
Robert J. Allison is a professor of History at Suffolk University and a lecturer at the Harvard Extension School. He is president of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts and chair of Revolution 250. His books include 'The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World', 1776-1815, 'Stephen Decatur, American Naval Hero', 1779-1820, 'A Short History of Boston, and Revolutionary Sites of Greater Boston'.