geve_'s review against another edition
3.0
Although fairly informative, the book was poorly structured, making it a bit of a slog at points. Some chapters were quite riveting, while others I found myself daydreaming through. Not a good sign. I suppose it earns 3 stars, mostly for those few exciting chapters.
leggsly's review against another edition
I loved the first few chapters (social history of London in the early 18th century), but when they got to the American colonies everybody was named some combination of John/William/Mary Johnson/Williams/Smith and I couldn’t keep track. Also all the pirates’ stories were “They plundered enemy ships and took prisoners. Then everyone got sick so they had to dock. And some of the crew decided to go off and start their own pirate ship while they were on land. Then that crew went and did some more plundering. Then they all got sick,” and on and on. Might pick up a physical copy in the future bc I do want to learn the true stories of Stede Bonnet and Anne Bonny!!
texreader's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
I believe this author had as his mission to write the best researched, most thorough account of the Republic of Pirates, founded by pirate Benjamin Hornigold, in the Caribbean. The escapades of many a pirate (so many I forget who’s who), and every ship won or lost, are detailed in this book. Which, unfortunately, makes for a boring pirate book. This book is a well-written assembly of facts and for that reason it’s a pick for me. It’d be an excellent textbook—original sources are cited. Where facts are unknown, he informs us. And I learned an enormous amount of history of the Caribbean and proved how little did I know how the early American east coast was so ravaged by pirates. Just beware, it’s a long slog.
camsullivan's review against another edition
3.0
The writing was a little drier than I’d hoped and at times felt more like a travelogue. That said, I learned a lot about a much mythologized period of history and the truth was often stranger than fiction.
givethatbooknerd's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
3.5
Enjoyable, but (logically) lots of dates and names.
sergeus's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
4.0
"Poor Stede Bonnet."
This is a great book, a real historical account of four key figures in the history of piracy in the Bahamas. It's been enlightening to pick apart some parts of fact and fiction of the myths around the Golden Age of Piracy.
As the above quote shows, this isn't a completely dry retelling of the facts. The author editorializes and conjectures, but I think reasonably so. And equally it isn't just a narrative tale about swashbuckling piracy, it's a researched and academic piece about what we can truly know about what happened and what is most likely.
It's also very amusing to see a historical account that mentions so many places I've seen in person. The importance of Potters' Cay comes up a few times, and I've been there! Plus other islands and small landmarks in the Bahamas.
I find this book is the right balance of education and researched facts, without feeling like I'm reading a textbook.
This is a great book, a real historical account of four key figures in the history of piracy in the Bahamas. It's been enlightening to pick apart some parts of fact and fiction of the myths around the Golden Age of Piracy.
As the above quote shows, this isn't a completely dry retelling of the facts. The author editorializes and conjectures, but I think reasonably so. And equally it isn't just a narrative tale about swashbuckling piracy, it's a researched and academic piece about what we can truly know about what happened and what is most likely.
It's also very amusing to see a historical account that mentions so many places I've seen in person. The importance of Potters' Cay comes up a few times, and I've been there! Plus other islands and small landmarks in the Bahamas.
I find this book is the right balance of education and researched facts, without feeling like I'm reading a textbook.
rainpunk's review against another edition
3.0
Informative and engaging. Although it can be hard to remember the specifics of the many named pirates the book covers, I'm certainly coming away from this with a broader, more nuanced understanding of the golden age of piracy as a whole.
I always knew there was a distinction between privateers and true pirates, but I never before realized that many sailors were both, depending on whether it was during the War of Spanish Succession or after that war concluded, leaving previous privateers without a job. Neither did I know that the Jacobite movement was tied into a lot of piratical motivations. Even further still, I didn't know that piracy was often viewed favorably by the public at the time, as a robin hood-esque "sticking it to the man" so to speak. In short, I didn't realize at all that there was politics to piracy, and this book explained that in all of its nuance.
I always knew there was a distinction between privateers and true pirates, but I never before realized that many sailors were both, depending on whether it was during the War of Spanish Succession or after that war concluded, leaving previous privateers without a job. Neither did I know that the Jacobite movement was tied into a lot of piratical motivations. Even further still, I didn't know that piracy was often viewed favorably by the public at the time, as a robin hood-esque "sticking it to the man" so to speak. In short, I didn't realize at all that there was politics to piracy, and this book explained that in all of its nuance.
jay_sy's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I wanted to learn more about pirates, since our TTRPG currently has a campaign on the high seas and settled on The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard. It was an informative read, interesting in some parts and dry in others.
Some thoughts I took note of while reading:
-the Golden Age of piracy only lasted about 10 years
-many sailors from Merchant or navy vessels willingly joined pirate ships and at some point up to a fourth of the crew were freed slaves
-Pirates like Avery might have been thought of like Robin Hood by some of the common folk but while they might have traded European prisoners well, there were also stories of cruelty towards people of other races and nationalities and instances where they took people from West Africa as slaves and sold them
-during this period of the 1700s, many of the Pirates were from England. Infant and child mortality was extremely high and yet there are also many orphans to the point that babies were rented to beggars, and children were sold into slavery and made to do difficult jobs like being chimney sweeps. Merchant and naval ships were often short on a sailors and had to use underhanded tactics to get sailors on board such as offering to pay off drunk former sailors debts and if that failed some of them were handcuffed and chained until they were on board. The Navy was even harsher than merchants and used press gangs to force sailors to serve and many sailors felt like they lived the lives of prisoners and hid from these press gangs. Some press gangs even took sailors coming straight off Merchant vessels
-sailors were seen as ranked below even farmers. Treatment on Merchant and navy vessels could be brutal and some Merchant ships tried to save money by skimping on the sailors food so that on many ships including passenger ships sailors and passengers died by starvation. They ate salted meat and after a few weeks freshwater would turn green and many died from dysentery. There are accounts of sailors having to close their eyes when eating biscuits so they don't have to see the weevils and maggots.
-Captain's basically acted like tyrants and some Merchant captains were so brutal that punishments were more akin to torture where sailors and cabin boys were whipped to death and tied to the masts or worse. If Merchant captains didn't like sailors they would send them to naval ships. Mortality rates on naval ships was so high that sometimes 50% of the crew died and they had to bring extra men to account for that. Sailors in cold climates or a wool and tar covered coats that were often still wet and freezing in the winter. In tropical climates they often went shirtless and we're so sunburned that they were red with boils and blisters
-merchant ships often docked pay from sailors for damaged goods even if the goods were damaged in the storm. Naval ships were notorious for not even paying their sailors at all or giving them what amounted to IOUs
-some of the large Navy frigates struggled to maneuver in tropical climates and there were wood eating worms that would consume the ships. Ships were required to be dried out and all the life forms needed to be chipped off the hulls to maintain the ships
-the 10-year-old child who wore silk stockings and leather shoes but decided he wanted to become a pirate and left his mother
-divers who salvaged sunken treasure were often slaves and it was an extremely dangerous job. If they had to dive particularly deeply they were submerged with a large bell where they could get air
-the story of the pirate Bonnet of the Revenge was fairly entertaining especially since he had no sailing experience before he decided to buy a ship and become a pirate, eventually collaborating with Blackbeard
-it seemed like illness was a serious problem for pirates (or anyone from Europe who went to the tropics)
-Woods, who took down the pirates, seriously got very little support from the government. I suppose that it was a matter of out of sight, out of mind, and it wasn’t until a best-seller was written about the pirates that anyone cared what happened to him
-I wish we could have learned more about Anne Bonny and Mary who cross-dressed and lived as pirates, as well as people’s reactions to them
-It seems like very few pirates got out ahead in the end, and there was so much infighting and captains betraying their crews because they wanted more loot
Overall, I would give the book a 3 out of 5, and it's probably best enjoyed by those who are really fascinated by pirates
Some thoughts I took note of while reading:
-the Golden Age of piracy only lasted about 10 years
-many sailors from Merchant or navy vessels willingly joined pirate ships and at some point up to a fourth of the crew were freed slaves
-Pirates like Avery might have been thought of like Robin Hood by some of the common folk but while they might have traded European prisoners well, there were also stories of cruelty towards people of other races and nationalities and instances where they took people from West Africa as slaves and sold them
-during this period of the 1700s, many of the Pirates were from England. Infant and child mortality was extremely high and yet there are also many orphans to the point that babies were rented to beggars, and children were sold into slavery and made to do difficult jobs like being chimney sweeps. Merchant and naval ships were often short on a sailors and had to use underhanded tactics to get sailors on board such as offering to pay off drunk former sailors debts and if that failed some of them were handcuffed and chained until they were on board. The Navy was even harsher than merchants and used press gangs to force sailors to serve and many sailors felt like they lived the lives of prisoners and hid from these press gangs. Some press gangs even took sailors coming straight off Merchant vessels
-sailors were seen as ranked below even farmers. Treatment on Merchant and navy vessels could be brutal and some Merchant ships tried to save money by skimping on the sailors food so that on many ships including passenger ships sailors and passengers died by starvation. They ate salted meat and after a few weeks freshwater would turn green and many died from dysentery. There are accounts of sailors having to close their eyes when eating biscuits so they don't have to see the weevils and maggots.
-Captain's basically acted like tyrants and some Merchant captains were so brutal that punishments were more akin to torture where sailors and cabin boys were whipped to death and tied to the masts or worse. If Merchant captains didn't like sailors they would send them to naval ships. Mortality rates on naval ships was so high that sometimes 50% of the crew died and they had to bring extra men to account for that. Sailors in cold climates or a wool and tar covered coats that were often still wet and freezing in the winter. In tropical climates they often went shirtless and we're so sunburned that they were red with boils and blisters
-merchant ships often docked pay from sailors for damaged goods even if the goods were damaged in the storm. Naval ships were notorious for not even paying their sailors at all or giving them what amounted to IOUs
-some of the large Navy frigates struggled to maneuver in tropical climates and there were wood eating worms that would consume the ships. Ships were required to be dried out and all the life forms needed to be chipped off the hulls to maintain the ships
-the 10-year-old child who wore silk stockings and leather shoes but decided he wanted to become a pirate and left his mother
-divers who salvaged sunken treasure were often slaves and it was an extremely dangerous job. If they had to dive particularly deeply they were submerged with a large bell where they could get air
-the story of the pirate Bonnet of the Revenge was fairly entertaining especially since he had no sailing experience before he decided to buy a ship and become a pirate, eventually collaborating with Blackbeard
-it seemed like illness was a serious problem for pirates (or anyone from Europe who went to the tropics)
-Woods, who took down the pirates, seriously got very little support from the government. I suppose that it was a matter of out of sight, out of mind, and it wasn’t until a best-seller was written about the pirates that anyone cared what happened to him
-I wish we could have learned more about Anne Bonny and Mary who cross-dressed and lived as pirates, as well as people’s reactions to them
-It seems like very few pirates got out ahead in the end, and there was so much infighting and captains betraying their crews because they wanted more loot
Overall, I would give the book a 3 out of 5, and it's probably best enjoyed by those who are really fascinated by pirates