'The Forgotten War That Changed American History': A Conversation With Author Brian Kilmeade

In the late 1700s, the Barbary states in North Africa were functioning like pirates and privateers, seizing ships — and crews and cargo — on the open sea of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

It's in that open ocean off of North Africa where author Brian Kilmeade's latest book, "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History," takes place.

Kilmeade joined Morning Edition to talk about his story, which depicts the birth of the U.S. Navy's first fleet of warships, led by the USS Constitution.