About Christian McBurney

I have a new book out! It is Machine Guns in Narragansett Bay: The Coast Guard’s War Against Rumrunners (History Press, 2023).

Here are three upcoming appearances I will …
Read More

[Editor’s Note: In early 1923, newspaper readers became enthralled with Gray Ghost, a “pirate prowler” that preyed on the rum supply ships stationed on Rum Row south of Block Island. …
Read More

The popularity of spies in the Revolutionary War, led by AMC’s TURN cable television series and the bestselling book George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American …
Read More

[Note from the Editor: The following list is excerpted from “American Millionaires, The Tribune’s list of all Americans reputed to be worth a million or more,” published by The Tribune …
Read More

In my prior article, “Newporters Catch Gold Fever, Sail to California in 1849,” the story of the Audley Clarke’s voyage to San Francisco was detailed. When Newport mariners heard about …
Read More

Newport never fully recovered as a thriving maritime port following the American Revolutionary War. Its merchants did well in the trade with India and China in the times around 1800. …
Read More

One of my favorite hobbies is reading popular and top quality American history books by authors who have deservedly built national reputations. By popular history, I mean the author is …
Read More

There is a recent welcome addition to the library of Rhode Island history books. It is Meet Me at the Biltmore, 100 Years at Providence’s Most Storied Hotel, by …
Read More

My last article was on the story behind the recent identification of the remains of the wreck of a vessel off the coast of the Patagonia region in Argentina, which …
Read More

Wooden ribs are found barely exposed from the sand on a beach at low tide in the Patagonia region of Argentina. With the combination of marine archeology, historical research and …
Read More