Privateers & Pirates 1730–1830

Osprey Elite #74

by Angus Konstam, Angus McBride (Illustrator)

Following the pirate scourge of the early 18th century, many sea captains took to privateering as a means of making money. A form of nationally sponsored piracy, it reached its peak during the American Revolution (1763-1776), when the fledgling American navy had to rely on privateers to disrupt British shipping between England and the rebellious colonies. Following peace in 1815, many former privateers turned to piracy, spawning the last great piratical wave, which would last for a decade. The world of these privateers and latter-day pirates comes vividly to life in this detailed exploration of their ships, crews, ports and battle tactics.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, 18th Century, Naval History, Military History, Reference

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Angus Konstam is a Scottish writer of popular history. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised on the Orkney Islands, he has written more than a hundred books on maritime history, naval history, historical atlases, with a special focus on the history of piracy.

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other Osprey publications, this is a short, well illustrated, account of a specific type of historical military group. While the author does give some basics in equipment, tactics, and "uniform" he also goes reasonably in-depth on the political, economic, and military factors that drove and shaped the multiple phases of privateering in this period. Despite the name, little of the book deals with piracy, and most of that is non-state sanctioned actions by privateers (exceeding their charters) or privateers who continued their activities after peace had ended the need for their services. Most of the privateers in this were active in the Atlantic and adjacent regions (the Caribbean and the English Channel). The last section of the book as a selection of brief biographies of various famous privateers and privateers-turned-pirate from the period. Kudos to Osprey for choosing Konstam to write this one; he's more than qualified and is quite readable. On the other hand, I was unimpressed by most of the color paintings commissioned for this edition (The typical Osprey format is to include black and white photographs and diagrams with some more "exciting" color paintings of the subject in action). 3 stars.

[Teufel Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice artwork, copies of letters of Marque, etc.