How long does it take to read Six Frigates?
Six Frigates by Ian W. Toll takes about 10 hours 51 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 10 hours 51 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 2006. 592 pages, about 162,800 words.
22 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 18 hours 5 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 10 hours 51 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 6 hours 47 minutes |
The page count is the median across 9 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Starting in the Adams administration and continuing through to the end of the War of 1812, Six Frigates is a well researched and very readable history of the Navy of the United States. Begun in the shadow of the British Royal Navy that was thought to be unbeatable, the American Navy faced challenges of every kind. The navy grew as the country grew, by fits and starts, by rising to challenges (The Barbary pirates, Britain and France) and learning from mistakes. Toll's narrative covers the political, economic, social and technical challenges that faced shipbuilders, sailors, captains and congressmen that managed the development and operation of the fleet. From the last chapter: “What was remembered and cherished about 1812, above all, was the fact that America's tiny fleet had shocked and humbled the mightiest navy the world had every known.” This was the most significant outcome of the War of 1812, which is often overlooked by Americans and British alike. The United States, by it's naval victories and dogged insistence that it would not give in to being pushed around by anyone, won the respect if not the admiration of the powers of Europe. After 1815, the United States moved themselves out of the status of 'bloody colonials' and were recognized as a power to be reckoned with. It is also worth noting, as Toll does, that “it was only after the War of 1812 that Americans began speaking of the United States in the singular rather than the plural”. The War of 1812 helped to define America's sense of itself, and that would not have happened without the construction of Six Frigates.
Subjects: USS Constitution, USS President, USS Constellation, USS United States, US Navy, United States
