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La vita all'ombra del Jolly Roger. I pirati dell'epoca d'oro tra leggenda e realtà
L'enorme attenzione che i pirati hanno ricevuto negli ultimi anni non si limita al grande schermo o al reparto giocattoli dei grandi magazzini. Questi "malfattori" di trecento anni fa hanno impregnato a fondo l'immaginario contemporaneo, riuscendo a creare una mitologia tuttora vitale. Nonostante la loro epoca d'oro sia collocabile tra il 1690 e il 1725, ancora oggi studiosi, scrittori, sceneggiatori e appassionati si dividono in accanite diatribe tra chi vede in loro degli audaci ribelli sociali, capaci di realizzare le prime forme di democrazia diretta, e chi invece li considera dei briganti crudeli e sanguinari. E in effetti i pirati furono entrambe le cose: fuorilegge pronti a depredare chiunque incrociasse la loro rotta e uomini liberi che rifiutavano una società "legittima" oppressiva e altrettanto violenta. Passando da Nietzsche a Foucault, da Che Guevara a Hobsbawm, da Sahlins a Clastres, l'autore ci racconta la storia non convenzionale di queste comunità nomadi, descrivendo – sempre in bilico tra leggenda e realtà – la vita quotidiana all'ombra della bandiera nera pirata.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 30, 2010
I first got obsessed with pirates when I was 19 and let myself be swept up a crusty crew rolling 7 deep called the Anarcho Pirate Brigade from Baltimore. We had a lot of the right ideas and a lot of wrong ideas about pirates.
I'm astounded by how clearly this book cuts into the mythos of the golden age pirates and immediately shows you what is fucked up and what is interesting.
It's also the first book I've read that has explained philosophical concepts, Deleuze etc., through the lens of, you know, pirates.
I'm astounded by how clearly this book cuts into the mythos of the golden age pirates and immediately shows you what is fucked up and what is interesting.
It's also the first book I've read that has explained philosophical concepts, Deleuze etc., through the lens of, you know, pirates.
April 9, 2022
Think you know everything about pirates? Think again! This book is going to bust through myths and legends, and bring you the historical awesomeness of pirates.
Now, with most historical pieces, this one felt as though it drug a bit at times, but I still found the underlying questions and the rather roundabout way that the author went about proving his thesis statement.
Overall, interesting read!
Now, with most historical pieces, this one felt as though it drug a bit at times, but I still found the underlying questions and the rather roundabout way that the author went about proving his thesis statement.
Overall, interesting read!
March 27, 2024
Damn this is good. An anarchist assessment of pirateology that takes great issue with the uncritical adulation of Golden Age pirates within leftist cultural iconography, instead drawing attention to the uncomfortable colonial, misogynistic, violent, and in-group cultural value systems that pirates historically employed. He suggests reading pirates through various anarchist lenses, particularly that of Pierre Clastres, Nomadology: The War Machine, Maoist models of guerilla warfare, and especially through a lib-left reworking of Bandits.
Kuhn has read basically every pirate history out there and he relentlessly surveys how different authors across the political spectrum have treated each aspect of pirate culture, from its food, dress, home bases, sexuality, gender, nationalism, statelessness, disability, democracy, religion, race, and politics, before giving it his own, exceedingly sane and sensible appraisal. You will find none of Marcus Rediker's source-shenanigans here. If the sources don't support it, then Kuhn has no truck with the cliches, particularly when it comes to the mythologisation of the Libertalia chapter in Captain Johnson's work which, Kuhn observes, most leftist pirateologists appear to have not actually read despite claiming it as some kind of anarchist utopia.
Furthermore, he is also suspicious of the conservative credulity towards state propaganda that almost certainly exaggerated pirate violence as a means of dehumanising their rebelliousness, but he does not use this as an excuse to set that violence aside as somehow unproblematic or unworthy of political critique. Kuhn is interested both in what pirates were, and what they have been made to stand for, and explores that tension to great effect.
If this book has any faults, it is that it at times feels like an endless literature review, though its comprehensiveness is exactly what makes his arguments work as Kuhn balances the competing fantasies, biases, and appraisals of the field's leading scholars. The end result is marvellous, particularly as he leads towards his persuasive analysis of pirate culture through a Nietzschean lens to explain its enduring appeal.
The second edition includes some interviews he gave after the initial publication which sum up the core of his arguments, as well as one valuable and sensitively handled conversation with a hostile Vietnamese critic whose family survived pirate predaceousness when escaping the country, and who accuses him of still enabling a Eurocentric fantasy of piracy. It also mentions some silent corrections, which I have to admit is annoying since I've been annotating a first edition of the damn thing.
A copy of the second edition is available on the internet archive here: https://archive.org/details/life_unde...
Kuhn has read basically every pirate history out there and he relentlessly surveys how different authors across the political spectrum have treated each aspect of pirate culture, from its food, dress, home bases, sexuality, gender, nationalism, statelessness, disability, democracy, religion, race, and politics, before giving it his own, exceedingly sane and sensible appraisal. You will find none of Marcus Rediker's source-shenanigans here. If the sources don't support it, then Kuhn has no truck with the cliches, particularly when it comes to the mythologisation of the Libertalia chapter in Captain Johnson's work which, Kuhn observes, most leftist pirateologists appear to have not actually read despite claiming it as some kind of anarchist utopia.
Furthermore, he is also suspicious of the conservative credulity towards state propaganda that almost certainly exaggerated pirate violence as a means of dehumanising their rebelliousness, but he does not use this as an excuse to set that violence aside as somehow unproblematic or unworthy of political critique. Kuhn is interested both in what pirates were, and what they have been made to stand for, and explores that tension to great effect.
If this book has any faults, it is that it at times feels like an endless literature review, though its comprehensiveness is exactly what makes his arguments work as Kuhn balances the competing fantasies, biases, and appraisals of the field's leading scholars. The end result is marvellous, particularly as he leads towards his persuasive analysis of pirate culture through a Nietzschean lens to explain its enduring appeal.
The second edition includes some interviews he gave after the initial publication which sum up the core of his arguments, as well as one valuable and sensitively handled conversation with a hostile Vietnamese critic whose family survived pirate predaceousness when escaping the country, and who accuses him of still enabling a Eurocentric fantasy of piracy. It also mentions some silent corrections, which I have to admit is annoying since I've been annotating a first edition of the damn thing.
A copy of the second edition is available on the internet archive here: https://archive.org/details/life_unde...
January 2, 2022
I disagree with Kuhn's assertion that golden age pirates were homeless nomads with no relationships beyond the pirate ship. Despite its centrality to the rest of the book, this is not a premise that Kuhn argues, instead taking it for granted that we will assume it with him. It does not convince me and sounds a lot like "My teacher lives at school." Do we have to believe a pirate's identity and lifestyle exist only in service to his labor, that he can have no life outside the worksite, or that his particular job precludes him from more universal pursuits? But even though I may long for more and harder evidence from primary sources (sources whose existence Kuhn repeatedly and incorrectly denies), it is refreshing to read such thorough engagement with the larger body of pirate history. Kuhn gives us thoughtful and thought-provoking (and sometimes funny) responses to the famous likes of Marcus Rediker and BR Burg. If I am more critical of this book than I usually am of other pirate books, it's not because it deserves more criticism, but because it is worthy of more.
February 13, 2022
you really can just read whatever you want. lies in the unhappy middle of entertainment reading and theoretical enrichment. much of it is beating around the bush. kuhn really wishes pirates could be something they weren't and it's why he wrote the book imo. it's well researched though and there are many quotes from interesting and fundamental authors
February 1, 2023
Excelente libro que reflexiona sobre la importancia de la Edad de Oro de la Piratería como símbolo político de izquierda y la relación de ese significado con su significante histórico. Kuhn intenta rastrear los aspectos revolucionarios en lo poco que conocemos de la historia de la piratería del siglo XVIII sin caer en la idealización, simultáneamente sosteniendo la figura pirata como un poderoso potencial de inspiración liberadora y reconociendo las diferencias entre el pirata-símbolo y el pirata histórico, con sus ambigüedades y contradicciones (la más recurrente es la participación en la trata esclavista, que Kuhn no te deja olvidar por un minuto).
Este libro da la impresión de ser en gran parte un comentario sobre el ya clásico de Marcus Rediker. Siendo que los autores comparten tanto una perspectiva como un objetivo, Kuhn se centra más en discutir con algunas nociones quizás más románticas de la piratería, matizando la obra de Rediker. Yo no la leí, así que tampoco puedo decir demasiado, pero sus críticas me parecieron serias y útiles. Digo útiles porque este libro es un libro de historia, sí (una sociología histórica, quizás, muy centrada en la historia social, como ya el título da a entender), pero también es un libro de filosofía con una intencionalidad política recurrente y marcada. Sin alienar a los lectores que no están demasiado familiarizados con las obras de autores como Nietzsche, Foucault o Deleuze, Kuhn incorpora la teoría a su análisis para hacer que el libro sea, además de una exploración, una invitación a pensar la rebelión, la libertad, y la acción política.
En sí, es una mirada que invita a la reflexión, evitando el idealismo pero sin condenarlo. Al final de esta edición hay algunas entrevistas; la mayoría no valen la pena y parecen más bien armadas para promocionar el libro, repitiendo sus argumentos, pero unas cuantas profundizan en la discusión. Kuhn explicita la conclusión en una: "Es legítimo evocar la herencia rebelde de los piratas de la Edad de Oro en contextos políticos, siempre que se haga sin idealización y con una dosis de autoironía". Me inclino a estar de acuerdo.
Por cierto eso no quiere decir que esté de acuerdo con todos los aspectos del libro. Algunas de las cuestiones parecen dadas por sentado, y tanto la intención política como el foco ultra-específico quizás opacan un poco algunos aspectos de la sociedad en su conjunto. Como algunos otros comentaristas mencionan, a pesar de la constante insistencia de Kuhn en el nomadismo pirata, es algo que más bien da por sentado antes que argumentarlo. La comparación con las sociedades pre-Estatales y con la guerra de guerrillas es sin duda interesante, y cumple a la perfección el propósito de estimular el pensamiento, pero quizás las similitudes están exageradas y las diferencias minimizadas. Para mí eso no limita en absoluto el disfrute del libro ni lastima sus conclusiones; La vida bajo bandera pirata no se propone verdaderamente ser un libro de historia. Pero es un factor a tener en cuenta.
Este libro da la impresión de ser en gran parte un comentario sobre el ya clásico de Marcus Rediker. Siendo que los autores comparten tanto una perspectiva como un objetivo, Kuhn se centra más en discutir con algunas nociones quizás más románticas de la piratería, matizando la obra de Rediker. Yo no la leí, así que tampoco puedo decir demasiado, pero sus críticas me parecieron serias y útiles. Digo útiles porque este libro es un libro de historia, sí (una sociología histórica, quizás, muy centrada en la historia social, como ya el título da a entender), pero también es un libro de filosofía con una intencionalidad política recurrente y marcada. Sin alienar a los lectores que no están demasiado familiarizados con las obras de autores como Nietzsche, Foucault o Deleuze, Kuhn incorpora la teoría a su análisis para hacer que el libro sea, además de una exploración, una invitación a pensar la rebelión, la libertad, y la acción política.
En sí, es una mirada que invita a la reflexión, evitando el idealismo pero sin condenarlo. Al final de esta edición hay algunas entrevistas; la mayoría no valen la pena y parecen más bien armadas para promocionar el libro, repitiendo sus argumentos, pero unas cuantas profundizan en la discusión. Kuhn explicita la conclusión en una: "Es legítimo evocar la herencia rebelde de los piratas de la Edad de Oro en contextos políticos, siempre que se haga sin idealización y con una dosis de autoironía". Me inclino a estar de acuerdo.
Por cierto eso no quiere decir que esté de acuerdo con todos los aspectos del libro. Algunas de las cuestiones parecen dadas por sentado, y tanto la intención política como el foco ultra-específico quizás opacan un poco algunos aspectos de la sociedad en su conjunto. Como algunos otros comentaristas mencionan, a pesar de la constante insistencia de Kuhn en el nomadismo pirata, es algo que más bien da por sentado antes que argumentarlo. La comparación con las sociedades pre-Estatales y con la guerra de guerrillas es sin duda interesante, y cumple a la perfección el propósito de estimular el pensamiento, pero quizás las similitudes están exageradas y las diferencias minimizadas. Para mí eso no limita en absoluto el disfrute del libro ni lastima sus conclusiones; La vida bajo bandera pirata no se propone verdaderamente ser un libro de historia. Pero es un factor a tener en cuenta.
September 6, 2017
A rather nice, serviceable introduction on pirates and how they influenced radical leftist politics many years since their collecvtively short-lived, complicated lives.
July 13, 2010
The special thing about this book is that it used pirates as a vehicle to touch on so many other questions - from various theories of irregular warfare, to ships-as-the-first factories, the reality of early modern "Atlantic culture", nationalism, disability and queer history. What i found most useful was the recurring question of whether and how "subjectively non-political" groups and peoples can nevertheless provide "revolutionary momentum".
This wide-ranging eclectic approach is based on a critical synthesis of various studies of pirates, from an avowedly radical (perhaps anarchist) perspective, it nevertheless debunks the tendency of anarchist mythmaking about the pirate past, and in doing so provides an opportunity to touch on the meaning and uses of history.
For all that, this book primarily serves as an introduction to all that it touches on, rather than an indepth study of any one feature. Aimed at radicals, it provides a good jumping-off place for conversations and texts on a variety of perspectives, while itself serving as a repository of quick examples of how they can be applied.
This wide-ranging eclectic approach is based on a critical synthesis of various studies of pirates, from an avowedly radical (perhaps anarchist) perspective, it nevertheless debunks the tendency of anarchist mythmaking about the pirate past, and in doing so provides an opportunity to touch on the meaning and uses of history.
For all that, this book primarily serves as an introduction to all that it touches on, rather than an indepth study of any one feature. Aimed at radicals, it provides a good jumping-off place for conversations and texts on a variety of perspectives, while itself serving as a repository of quick examples of how they can be applied.
January 5, 2019
It kind of reminded me of an ethnography or a thesis paper, which, although I don’t read much nonfiction, seemed interesting but different. Better than most of the nonfiction out there but still a little slow.
October 16, 2010
Brings together many previous books on the topic and moves the thinking forward through more theory.
October 21, 2022
The book itself is interesting enough but the historical basic for much of the speculation is too tenuous and I feel like it draws too many long bows, and some fairly ridiculous ones as well.
May 16, 2023
I appreciated this text for what it was, or purported itself to be--which is more or less an explication on the variety of opinions surrounding the mythology of the golden age pirates of the Atlantic that considers both "radical" and "conservative" opinions worthy of evaluating--and it was generally well thought out, and well reasoned. There were a few sentences, or trains of thought, where Kuhn seemed to give ill-fitting preference to any particular opinion, regardless of when said opinions either lacked enough basis or had immediate and relevant counter-arguments to be made against them that went unsaid, and for me most of these related back to the section on Pirate Ethnography. A plethora of quotes left on their own sans exegesis from a variety of disagreeing authors left me, for a fair portion of this section, with no more information than that which I had already possessed. I note here Kuhn's, in the section on sexuality: "In this sense, there are implications of Burg’s theory that seem convincing: “Among the men of this seafaring community, there was no need to hide sexual orientation, and the anxieties, psychological disruptions, and psychopathological difficulties that often result from this type of guilt and repression did not emerge."
To follow a quote like this with three more scant paragraphs in the section, of which the last two feature only a transition to discussing Foucault's views on the history of sexuality, does not feel properly rigorous. And it felt especially strange to have this quote directly after statements that otherwise attested to what appears to be a vastly more verifiable trend of piratical "heteronormativity", so to speak. Regardless of the fact that I, and many others I am sure, would love to believe this, Burg himself appears to treat the matter more cautiously than Kuhn, explicitly and consistently making clear its nature as a theoretical possibility.
But, regardless of small nitpicks like this that exist in a few places within the text, it was, again, a worthy read.
Read for free here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...
To follow a quote like this with three more scant paragraphs in the section, of which the last two feature only a transition to discussing Foucault's views on the history of sexuality, does not feel properly rigorous. And it felt especially strange to have this quote directly after statements that otherwise attested to what appears to be a vastly more verifiable trend of piratical "heteronormativity", so to speak. Regardless of the fact that I, and many others I am sure, would love to believe this, Burg himself appears to treat the matter more cautiously than Kuhn, explicitly and consistently making clear its nature as a theoretical possibility.
But, regardless of small nitpicks like this that exist in a few places within the text, it was, again, a worthy read.
Read for free here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...
July 18, 2021
Life Under the Jolly Roger started with a strike against it for having a name too similar to Under the Black Flag. I can do that, it's my review. I tried and I tried but finally could not find any part of this that I liked. I love Pirates. One of my favorite pictures of myself has me standing in front of one of the last known original Jolly Roger flags. I believe there are two in the world. What Gabriel Kuhn has managed to do here is to take all of the adventures out of Piracy.
Last year, I had the privilege to read Children of Ash and Elm which was a book on the history of Vikings from a realistic standpoint. It dispelled many of the myths that you commonly see on TV shows such as Vikings and all the others that popped up around the same time. It was a well-researched book that had the decency to still come across as a book and not an essay.
This comes across as an essay.
A major flaw with Tom Reiss, and a flaw by Kuhn, is an over-reliability on other text. If I wanted to read pages upon pages from other sources, I would read the originals. It's a huge pet peeve for me. It annoyed me when I read The Black Count and it annoys me here.
I'll admit it was academically researched but far too sluggish. If this was a presentation I would have walked out. I'm not asking for romantical flourishes or cinematic Pirate moments. I wish Kuhn wrote with enthusiasm. The right stuff, wrong voice.
Last year, I had the privilege to read Children of Ash and Elm which was a book on the history of Vikings from a realistic standpoint. It dispelled many of the myths that you commonly see on TV shows such as Vikings and all the others that popped up around the same time. It was a well-researched book that had the decency to still come across as a book and not an essay.
This comes across as an essay.
A major flaw with Tom Reiss, and a flaw by Kuhn, is an over-reliability on other text. If I wanted to read pages upon pages from other sources, I would read the originals. It's a huge pet peeve for me. It annoyed me when I read The Black Count and it annoys me here.
I'll admit it was academically researched but far too sluggish. If this was a presentation I would have walked out. I'm not asking for romantical flourishes or cinematic Pirate moments. I wish Kuhn wrote with enthusiasm. The right stuff, wrong voice.
June 27, 2023
Are pirates cool? 😎👌😭
this book is certainly not above criticism, admittedly not completely impartial (it tries to be fair tho), and does not aim to become the be-all end-all of pirate book
i enjoyed it still more than i expected. yes, it reads as a long essay, but brings a fair amount of perspectives and comparisons, some i found more interesting than others
yes, it's written by a "radical", a bit anarchistic, but well-tempered enough not to be carried away by rosey romanticism.
i recommendd
this book is certainly not above criticism, admittedly not completely impartial (it tries to be fair tho), and does not aim to become the be-all end-all of pirate book
i enjoyed it still more than i expected. yes, it reads as a long essay, but brings a fair amount of perspectives and comparisons, some i found more interesting than others
yes, it's written by a "radical", a bit anarchistic, but well-tempered enough not to be carried away by rosey romanticism.
i recommendd
December 15, 2020
Good, well written informative book no doubt, but more academic than I wanted. It definitely ventured into philosophy/political theory type stuff which just wasn't what I was in mood for. Seems like a smart/good author though. Did learn a lot about pirates though.
January 30, 2022
Ensayo sobre la Edad de Oro de la piratería y su potencial político desde una perspectiva radical, pero intentando huir de la romantización excesiva
March 1, 2022
Esencial si gusta el mundo pirata y quieres saber más.
June 14, 2013
This is far and away the most insightful of the books that I read about the phenomenon of piracy, which is taking on more and more of a meta character to me as I continue to read about it. Kuhn has what seems to me the best approach to pirates, noting that there was never enough historical evidence for them to be anything other than a repository of the hopes and dreams of whoever was writing about them. He's consistently appreciative of other writers in the (lord save me) pirate studies genre, while noting that qualities of fantasy-making inhabit even historians and economists writing on the field. His overall point is that, while what historical records there are don't really show pirates as proto-democratic or -radical figures, they nevertheless reflected what he terms the "inertia" of democracy or radicalism: that is, the desire to work free from the fetters of restrictive civilization, in a way that appeals as much to libertarians as to anarchists as to capitalists as to Marxists. In making this point, Kuhn makes good use of Deleuzeian and Nietzschean (sp?) frameworks--this would not be a bad book to give to your jerkhole nineteen-year-old nephew who's thinks theory is stupid.
Of all of the historical/historiographical/theoretical books I've read lately about piracy, this is the first one I would recommend to an interested party.
Of all of the historical/historiographical/theoretical books I've read lately about piracy, this is the first one I would recommend to an interested party.
January 6, 2016
Where books like David Cordingly’s Under the Black Flag take a historical approach to Golden Age piracy, with an emphasis on highlighting distinctions between reality and fictional portrayals, Gabriel Kuhn’s book goes further than history lessons for insight that can serve contemporary radical politics. Well-researched, with occasional patches of dry scholarship, Life Under the Jolly Roger examines piracy in comparison with guerrilla warfare, utopian community-building, ethics, the clash of outlaws with civilizations, and more.
So we learn about the democratic nature of pirate crews, the prototypical health insurance system used by pirates to compensate victims of injuries, the improvised freedom of their day-to-day lives. He even offers a Nietzschean analysis of pirate living that is very persuasive, just as it suggests that perhaps a pirate’s life, and a Nietzschean one, isn’t necessarily all that desirable.
Although not especially practical in terms of relating piracy to contemporary radical/progressive action, it’s nevertheless an insightful work for radical theorists.
So we learn about the democratic nature of pirate crews, the prototypical health insurance system used by pirates to compensate victims of injuries, the improvised freedom of their day-to-day lives. He even offers a Nietzschean analysis of pirate living that is very persuasive, just as it suggests that perhaps a pirate’s life, and a Nietzschean one, isn’t necessarily all that desirable.
Although not especially practical in terms of relating piracy to contemporary radical/progressive action, it’s nevertheless an insightful work for radical theorists.
November 7, 2012
What a fun book! Kuhn doesn't drone on about how rad the pirates were in some kind of ideological masturbation. No, he definitely looks at both radical and nonradical historians and teases out the mythology vs. the reality of the golden age pirates from 17 and 18th centuries. And while the news isn't good (colonizers, predominantly white, slave holders, sexists, etc) the legacy of the pirates, their democratic workings on their ships (direct democracy) and the defiance of a society that had extreme constraints on the freedom of individuals still has the potential for adaptation in radical politics today. Kuhn doesn't plays sides but offers a really honest account of the golden age pirates and draws from many sources. Fascinating, accessible, and fun, Kuhn's book is not to be missed.
February 4, 2013
This is a really in-depth exploration of the history of pirates. Gabriel Kuhn examines all sides of the mythology around pirates (from "they were enlightened anarchists!" to "they were misogynistic murders!"). He breaks open all the stereotypical ideas about pirates and examines each idea piece by piece through a range of philosophical references, all the way from Michel Foucault to George Fox, the Quakerism's most prominent early figure. I don't think I'm quite passionate enough about pirates to really dig into this book, but the writing is really accessible and fun.
July 18, 2016
This was an interesting if sometimes incredulous study of "golden-age" piracy in the Caribbean having affinities with anarchism or anti-authoritarianism. Sometimes the argument blends pirates too much with buccaneers, who served empires and national flags, in contrast to the pirates' black flag (taken up by anarchists like Louise Michel during the Paris Commune of 1871, as by the Makhnovists of the Russian Revolution). The sections examining the misogyny of pirate crews as well as the slavery that they practiced themselves challenge the overall thesis about anarchism or proto-anarchism.
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