The Eighth Flag: Cannibals. Conquistadors. Buccaneers. PIRATES. The untold story of the Caribbean and the mystery of St. Croix's Pirate Legacy, 1493-1750

by Stanford Joines

Cannibals. Conquistadors. Buccaneers. Pirates. Visions of cartoon characters dancing around a cauldron with an explorer tied inside. Balboa gazing on the Pacific Ocean. De Leon and the fountain of youth. Pizarro conquering the Incas. Henry Morgan, in red, drinking spiced rum. Smoke curling around Blackbeard as his cutlass slashes through the air. … all children's tales that mean nothing. Today, we do not know who any of these people were, how they came to do what they did, or why they did it. The struggle for power, freedom, and wealth that shaped the Caribbean for two and a half centuries has, since John Barrie created Peter Pan, been relegated to the same literary section as Barney the Dinosaur; yet, underneath the soil of the modern world, the roots are still there. I started pulling them up on St. Croix, and the roots led to more roots, and more. Islands connected, nations connected, and legends came to life. Officially, St. Croix has flown seven flags over the last 500 years. Before the American flag and the Danebrog, the Spanish came for gold, the Dutch to trade, the English to raid, and the Knights of St. John to be in charge. The French built a colony only to watch it die of fever. During all of those years, Pirates, Conquistadors, Freebooters, Filibustiers, Corsairs, Buccaneers -whatever you call them- ruled the Caribbean and called St. Croix home, stealing at sea whether they had 'permission' to do so or not, and paying no attention at all to whatever European flag was flying. It is time to recognize our eighth flag. It was black. This is the untold story of St. Croix and a Caribbean long forgotten. Come. Sail with me.

Genres: History, Pirates

380 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 14, 2018

Reviews

[Scot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would recommend this as a reference book for anyone interested in the age of porates and their connection to the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean, but I would not recommend it for a general read. The author taught high school on the island for decades and assembled piles of information on the island's history. However, the organization is a jumble and whoile sections are repeared more than once. Also, it switches tone and focus abruptly, occasionally veering into a personal, contemporary diary entry of sorts, sometimes just listing specific historical names of ships, seaman, and encounters for pages but no substantive analysis.

For a much better book on pirates and their significance, check out Colin Woodard's The Republic of Pirates. A fellow named Eric Jay Dolin has a brand new one coming out next month (Sept 2019) entitled Black Flags, Blue Waters which I of course haven't yet seen, but discerning readers in this topic area might want to check there, too.

[Timothy A Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Eighth Flag is an excellent history of piracy in the Caribbean (and sometimes beyond). St. Croix, as author Stan Joines explains, was ground zero for piracy in the Caribbean for various reasons which Mr. Joines describes. Mr. Joines is a long-time resident of St. Croix. He is also a historian by training and a highly experienced sailor. He has explored some of the wrecks he describes and has personally seen and even put hands on some of the relics of the age of piracy. This is important as Mr. Joines is able to color his writing with his personal real-world experience to make his stories come alive for the reader.

The Eighth Flag is broken up into short sections, many of which are dedicated to a particular pirate. This organization allows the reader to pick up The Eighth Flag and a read a story of two when those spare minutes in the day roll around.

While the book is focused on the period of piracy (1493 to 1750), Mr. Joines devotes several chapters at the book’s end to an interesting abridged history of St. Croix from 1750 to the present day, including St Croix’s slaves’ long and difficult struggle for freedom. In his book, Mr. Joines also introduces the reader to a few colorful local characters and briefly (and proudly) describes the local culture and attitudes.

Mr. Joines includes some interesting photographs and illustrations. I especially enjoyed the illustrations of various pirate flags associated with particular pirates. At book’s end, Mr. Joines provides a useful bibliography and some interesting source materials.

I highly recommend The Eighth Flag. (In the spirit of full disclosure, please know that Mr. Joines is a good friend of 40+ years. We met as freshmen in college. He is a good and decent man, with a deep passion for history, adventure, sailing, and teaching. He is also an excellent musician and father. He loves St. Croix and its people, which shines through in his writing.)

[Julie Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stanford Joines

So much fun to read! Stan filled in the missing, fascinating history of two and half centuries of pirate parties on St Croix. Everybody came to St Croix, starting with Columbus - Sir Francis Drake, Henry Morgan, Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and hundreds of others, not as well know.

An easy and entertaining read - Stan honed his skills through decades of teaching high school history, a difficult group to hold their attention.

St Croix was, and still is, an effective hide out. We have over 500 years of recorded history; one group of shady individuals replaced another, repeatedly. In 1733, Denmark "purchased" the island, a first, as the usual way to acquire a Caribbean Island was to send in the troops. The Danes were impressive record keepers but not comfortable with the activities of the former inhabitants. Denmark owned the Virgin Islands for nearly 200 years, plenty of time to clean up the shady past of St Croix and St Thomas. If only the Danes could clean up the history if their ownership! St Croix was one of the richest sugar islands ever, but how the sugar was produced by enslaved Africans is not a high point of Danish history.

Life in the Caribbean has always been - different. Stan brings to life the good, the bad, and the ugly and fills in a big blank in the history.

Highly recommended!

[Valzebub · Rating 3 out of 5]

In desperate need of a good editor. Disjointed and repetitive. Has some fascinating facts inside, especially if you're interested in St.Croix, but shouldn't be at the top of anyone's to read list.

[Bailey Webster · Rating 2 out of 5]

I respect and admire all the hard work and research the author clearly put into creating this book. There is some very interesting information throughout; however, it is unfortunately poorly presented. The book is in sore need of an editor. Both the writing and the organization leave much to be desired. I often felt I was reading a student’s essay written for a class assignment.

There is ton of repeated information within the book, even sometimes in neighboring paragraphs. Most of the book reads as an info dump - this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened, and so on. I also, personally did not enjoy reading a lot of the author’s hot takes scatted throughout the book.

This is not a book to read if you’re looking for historical analysis on pirates, or even if you just want to read a book straight through about pirates. However, I could see it being of interest here and there if you wanted to pick it up and learn a bit about a specific pirate and just read that one chapter as suits your fancy.

[Mrs.Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating. St Croix's Salt River was the epicenter of piracy? Hmmm, never knew that. Do visit STX if you ever get the chance.