Mammoth Book of Pirates

by Jon E. Lewis

This title presents a rollicking tour of the history of the high seas with Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, 'Calico Jack' Rackham, Anne Bonney and other figures of maritime legend. It includes Francis 'The Scourge of Spain', Drake's audacious night-time treasure raid on Nombre de Dios; Alexander Exquemelin's fly-on-the-wall account of the 'wicked order of pirates, or robbers of the sea'; the journal of William Dampier, found stashed in a hollow bamboo tube, and much more. Witness skulduggery and malice, terror and excitement - a colourful and always entertaining collection.

Genres: History, Pirates, Nonfiction, Adventure, Historical, Anthologies, Crime

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Jon E. Lewis is a historian and writer, whose books on history and military history are sold worldwide. He is also editor of many The Mammoth Book of anthologies, including the bestselling On the Edge and Endurance and Adventure.

He holds graduate and postgraduate degrees in history. His work has appeared in New Statesman, the Independent, Time Out and the Guardian. He lives in Herefordshire with his partner and children.

From: Constable & Robinson

Reviews

[Nicole Seremeti]

3.5*

[Sam]

Despite the sometimes lengthy and difficult to read stories, I found myself really enjoying this book as it told of the reality behind the stereotypical pirate, including both well known and unknown names and women of the high seas too. Some of the stories are told by the pirates themselves (you may need a nautical dictionary handy for these) while others are taken from eye witness accounts recorded at the time or stories written afterwards. This is a colourful collection of stories that shows there is more to pirating than action action action.

[Matthew]

The real world of pirates, buccaneers, corsairs, was (is) not glamorous or romantic but violent, bloody, and dastardly. And, I think, probably boring much of the time. In this volume, Jon E. Lewis has gathered together a wide array of pirate-related material, including many first-hand accounts and narratives close in time to the events. I was not expecting this -- I thought it would be modern retellings, but I am glad for the diversity found here.

Indeed, this book starts with Sir Francis Drake's own account of his raid on Nombre de Dios. In here you will also find eyewitness accounts of the vile cruelty wrought by Sir Henry Morgan. The lives and criminal exploits of the famous pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy are all included here -- Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Anne Bonney and Mary Read, and Lafitte. There are also stories of maroonings, which are quite interesting, one of which was the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe. The volume ends with two appendices. One is the entirety of Byron's narrative poem The Corsair, the other is from anti-piracy law in Britain, c. 1724.

Alongside the various first-hand accounts are many extracts from Charles Ellms and Howard Pyle. Ellms can tend towards tedious detail, unfortunately, combined with moralising. Thus, entire courtroom speeches are included.

One of the writers included here who is as close to firsthand as we get for many of these pirates is Capt. Charles Johnson. Lewis neglects to mention the fact that Johnson is a pseudonym for an as-yet insecurely identified London publisher in the 1700s, and much of what he writes is probably fiction.

Finally, a lot of what goes on in piracy is dull. That is, it is unremarkable. They sail hither and yon. They board vessels. Fighting ensues. People die. Goods are stolen. Repeat. There is a sameness to the narratives herein. No fault of Lewis, mind you. There is really only so many ways to tell the same story with different actors.

In the end, my favourite is still Capt. Kidd.

[Natalie]

Honestly, very interesting but incredibly dense. Endless first-hand accounts written, usually by the European navy rather than by the 'pirates' themselves. Lewis pulls stories together about the most famous pirates we know and shows truths. He includes any female pirate stories as well. Very interesting to see how the 'golden age' of ships decimated turtle populations, certain resources, the colonisation / thievery of western islands, the political position pirates found themselves in. The cruel murders and massacres, the infamous acts of certain 'bold' men and women. Intriguing and oddly depressing lol. A comprehensive overview

[Clinton]

This was not quite what I expected. I was looking for narrative from historians, but this is a collection of contemporary accounts, most in the first person. Although a bit disappointed, I enjoyed it none the less. The language is a bit archaic and technical, but easily understood. The book concludes with "The Corsair ," an epic poem by Lord Byron. It is very much out of place in a nonfiction book, but I am happy to enjoy the genius of Byron wherever I can find it.

[Λάζαρος Λυρώνης]

Το ευαγγέλιο της πειρατείας. Θρύλοι των Επτά Θαλασσών παρελαύνουν στις σελίδες του βιβλίου αυτού. Με την μαύρη σημαία, ψιλά, σε καλούν να τους γνωρίσεις. Άνθρωποι με άγρια - ζωντανά πάθη, με κώδικα τιμής, τραγούδια και σπαθιά. Ιστορίες τόλμης και διαβολιάς για τους πιο διαβόητους άρπαγες όλων των εποχών.

[Denver]

I guess I do not care enough about pirates to read about them.

[Lani]

I had to really force myself to choke through this book. I think I read 4 or 5 other books in the course of trying to make it through this one.

Mostly firsthand or contemporary accounts of the pirate life throughout the world. Unfortunately this meant difficult to read accounts sprinkled with more nautical terms than action.

There were exceptions to the rule, and a few stories were pretty fast-paced and interesting. Much of it was just too difficult to make it through without my mind wandering.

I have a few other non-fiction books about the same time period that I felt were MUCH better. While it is neat to have these firsthand accounts, they were written in a style that may have been engaging 200 years ago.

Maybe helpful for some research, but not worth a 'pleasure read'. I should have quit when I was ahead, but just kept slogging through it. So glad I'm done, but disappointed I didn't get much out of it.

[Amy Hirschman]

This book is a very dense read. Be prepared to read chapters that were literally written in the 18th century, so the grammar, spelling, and manner of speaking are different and sometimes difficult to get through. My favorite chapters are the one about the encounter with the cannibal island, Alexander Selkirk who survives for years on a deserted island, and the stories of Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Oh, and the one about the priest/farmer who is not quite who he seems. But yes, remember-- very dense.

[Rick Brindle]

As has been commented on already, some of theses accounts are very hard to read, because they were written a few hundred years ago, but for enthusiasts of pirate history, these stories are priceless. They give an idea of just how world wide the phenomenon was, how scared the governments of day were of them, and it has to be said, what a thoroughly dastardly set of individuals they were, code or no code.

[Percy Blakeney]

One of the books I read every couple of months. As it is mentioned before, some of the stories(for me it is one or two, as it happens) are difficult to read, an understandable thing, because they were written in the 17th-18th century.

But if you want to learn about pirates, read this book. You can skip past the stories that are difficult to read and enjoy all the others. For people who like pirates, adventures and history, it's an enxellent reading.

[Randy P]

A collection of true pirate tales. This was a mixed bag. Some of them were pretty entertaining and some were terribly boring. After awhile many of the stories seemed too similar. Still, I enjoyed the chapters that did dispell many of the myths. An okay read, but I'm sure there are probably boatloads of better books out there on this subject.

[Penelope Marzec]

Most of this book was great. The first-hand accounts of pirate history make fascinating reading. The only section I had to slog through was in the Appendix, The Corsair by Lord Byron. Other than that this was a very worthwhile book for anyone interested on the truth about pirates.

[Mary]

Disney movies just ARRRRn't enough for me.

[Sarah]

Some of the "tales" were definitely better than others. I'm not really sure this book was what I thought it was going to be. I've read better.

[Desiree Kern]

Much fun. It's a combo of stories, actual letters and writings of real events, and an exploration of embellished events. Some of the stories have been very amusing so far.

[Rachael]

I loved all the detail and description in this book. True, it was pretty dense reading, but it was completely about pirates so how could I resist?

[Laura]

The majority of this is primary sources, which made it a rough go. Some parts were intriguing, others were tedious. But mostly, it was interesting.

[Dan]

Good, piratey fun.

[Robert]

good, lots of different stories.

[Peter Sackett]

Some good tales, however like previous reviewers I did find it rather hard going after a while.