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Pirates: The Golden Age of Piracy: A History from Beginning to End
Pirates dominate movie box office profits, they are theme park entertainment, and they occupy a place in popular culture that has outlasted the era when they originally ruled the seas. Contemporary audiences who are safe from the pistols and cutlasses of the men who sailed the Caribbean, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans to prey upon ships and claim their cargo may find it hard to reconcile the perceived glamor of Captain Jack Sparrow with the authentic bloodlust and greed of the real pirates who killed without conscience, kidnapped innocent victims for ransom, and ravaged, bribed, and robbed their way into legend. Tragut Rais, Grace O’Malley, William Kidd, Blackbeard and their colleagues were dangerous adventurers who lived at a time when piracy was an economic enterprise which yielded both wealth and a hangman’s noose.
- When Pirates Owned the Seas
- The Roots of Piracy
- The Original Pirates of the Caribbean
- The Pirate Round
- Piracy after the Spanish War of Succession
- The Pirates of the Barbary Coast
- The Modern-Day Pirates
Most pirates had a short life before they were captured and executed. A few lucky ones did die of natural causes, but they were rare. Nonetheless, those tales of swashbuckling adventure under the Jolly Roger continue to mesmerize us. Read more about the reality of the Golden Age of Piracy to find out whether or not Hollywood’s version can possibly compare with the truth.
- When Pirates Owned the Seas
- The Roots of Piracy
- The Original Pirates of the Caribbean
- The Pirate Round
- Piracy after the Spanish War of Succession
- The Pirates of the Barbary Coast
- The Modern-Day Pirates
Most pirates had a short life before they were captured and executed. A few lucky ones did die of natural causes, but they were rare. Nonetheless, those tales of swashbuckling adventure under the Jolly Roger continue to mesmerize us. Read more about the reality of the Golden Age of Piracy to find out whether or not Hollywood’s version can possibly compare with the truth.
39 pages, Paperback
Published May 14, 2019
310 people are currently reading
533 people want to read
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Hourly History
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 28, 2018
The introduction wasn’t necessary with exactly the same lines repeated in the following chapters. As a matter of fact it was kind of weird to start reading Chapter 1 after reading the introduction because I was reading what I just read in Introduction second time in a row.
Except that I would like to highly rate this book. Off the beginning the book hooks the serious readers into a depth of the story introducing a realistic history, not a Hollywood-driven, made-up fairy tale of adventurers.
(Kindle Ed., p. 1)
...The Golden Age of Piracy arose from a time when the powers of Europe were locked in a fierce battle for naval and mercantile supremacy, and as the fortunes of the nations ebbed and flowed, so did piracy.
These early lines make clear the reason I wanted to read this book.
(Kindle Ed., p. 9)
...In later years, an English monarch would use her sailors—called pirates by the Spanish who were victimized by their raids—to replenish the royal treasury and attack her enemies even as she pretended to know nothing about their deeds...
This book is so real: That was how unofficial, unorganized the English Navy was in the 16th and 17th centuries. On the other hand, the French Navy under Bourbon Dynasty, officially supplied and armed under the flag of the nation, prevailed over the English until the 18th century.
Today at school and everywhere we’ve been taught that there a rivalry between England and France was going on since the Hundred Years’ War, but seriously it was France, which dominated and led the European affairs and global economy from the mid-17th century to the early-19th century. We often forget that the mighty British naval power first had to overcome the established French naval power in the global water passages to take over the position as the global hegemon in the 19th to early-half of the 20th century.
(Kindle Ed., pp. 10-11)
When Elizabeth I ascended to the throne, her sailors were described as pirates by other nations. The English colony at Roanoke, Virginia was a base for attacks on Spanish shipping. However, there were ramifications to English piracy, as English business interests suffered losses in the water on their own coasts. The monarchy wanted its own routes to be safe from attack, but the merchants and towns that it commissioned as privateers were not paid from the royal treasury and had to outfit their ships at their own expense. The terms of commission permitted them to capture the wealth on the ships in order to recoup their own losses, which meant that instead of easing the problem of piracy, the merchants opted to win back lost money by plundering anyone with goods worth stealing. Elizabeth I’s state papers confirm that hundreds of complaints and petitions for compensation were issued, but punishment was inconsistent and lax. When pirates in the Straits of Dover seized the ship carrying the Queen’s emissary to the French court, a dozen of the emissary’s retainers were killed and property was stolen. Because the Queen was the victim of this attack, hundreds of pirates were jailed, but only three were hanged. The Queen displayed that characteristic pragmatism for which she was known. She made use of the pirates whose wealth benefited her, and chastised them when other monarchs complained. The criminals who sabotaged English shipping were heroes when they attacked England’s foes. Elizabeth took a share of the booty, and provided ships for the pirates. Pirates who had patrons in government provided profit for those officials. The pirates themselves often found that success awaited them.
This was the real face of the renowned English naval power, whose tale was created in the 19th to 20th century under the British lead of the global order. And the idea was supported by the English victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588, although the Habsburg-Spanish Maritime Empire remained the head of global order until its defeat to Bourbon-France by the mid-17th century. It is unwise to believe that the ultimate Spanish decline immediately ensued by that one defeat in 1588, while we all know the United States today in 2018 still remains the head of our global order despite its humiliating defeat in Vietnam back in the 1970s.
The examples and evidence of the real face of English naval power in the 16th to 17th century continue throughout pages.
(Kindle Ed., pp. 11-12)
Elizabeth didn’t have the money to build a wartime Navy, and the Spanish, the might of Europe, were about to launch their Armada against her small nation. In order to protect English commercial interests, she instituted privateering, which commissioned privately owned vessels with letters of marque from the Crown which allowed them to interrupt and capture the ships of their enemies during times of war. The letters provided for prizes—contraband from an enemy—to be confiscated by an Admiralty Court with a division of the goods going to the privateers, other officials, and the Crown. Privateering, which had existed as a practice before the threat of the Armada, became sanctioned in the 1580s as war loomed. Letters of reprisal allowed the bearer to pursue operations that interrupted enemy shipping even though there was not yet a declaration of war against that enemy. Privateers with the promise of government sanction and enemy prizes set to their work with alacrity. Martin Frobisher was called into service and given command of a squadron of ships when the Spanish Armada threatened in 1588. He was enraged when Sir Francis Drake, a pirate who was rewarded with a knighthood for his prize-taking prowess, seized a Spanish ship as part of the spoils of war. Frobisher said, “".....she (the Spanish Galleon) had spent her masts, then like a coward he (Drake) kept by her all night because he would have all the spoil. He thinketh to cozen us of our shares of 15 Thousand ducats: but we will have our shares or I will make him spend the best blood in his belly: for [I have] had enough of those cozening cheats already." Frobisher wasn’t irate at the taking of the ship; he was furious because Drake was taking more than his legitimate share of the plunder. Frobisher himself earned a knighthood for his distinguished service during the Armada engagement. Under Elizabeth, the duality of this authorized pirate was exhibited through the careers of not only Francis Drake but also Sir Walter Raleigh, John Hawkins, Richard Grenville, and the Gilberts, whose climb in rank did not suffer from their pirate leanings. As Sir Henry Mainwaring, pirate turned admiral of the navy under King James I, put it “...the State may hereafter want such men who are commonly the most serviceable in war."
(Kindle Ed., p. 21)
The sacking of Porto Bello, Panama City, and Maracaibo by England’s Henry Morgan was enormously lucrative and, as was the case for other Englishmen, eventually led to a knighthood, this one from King Charles II. The honor would have been disputed by the nations whose ships he plundered...
Even under Charles II, whose reign went through the late-half of the 17th century from 1660 to 1685, during the early years of the French championship in Europe and over the global water passages building huge colonies in India, Africa and especially in North America, the English pirates had to work for English Navy. At the time the English got through their Civil War, whereas the French just won the global warfare against the Habsburg Empire by 1660, and so parliamentary England had much less colonies compared to those of monarchical France under the centralized and united power of “absolute” Bourbon Dynasty, though England’s rise was to come rather soon with her unification with Scotland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain in the early-18th century.
(Kindle Ed., p. 13)
Spain was a barometer of the viability of the pirate trade, and behind Spain was the power of the Roman Catholic Church and the nation’s own religious zeal. Changes were coming to Europe, the effects of which would ripple throughout the New World. Religion, which had proved so destructive an element to the stability of Europe, would also plant divisive seeds in the New World. The Thirty Years War lasted from 1618-1648 and included not only the doctrinal conflict between Protestants and Catholics that the Reformation had incited, but also between Catholic powers Spain and France. The war itself was actually fought in Germany; casualties devastated the population, but war was not contained by Europe’s boundaries. As the power of Spain diminished in Europe, the effects would eventually be seen in Spain’s colonial empire. Dependence on slave labor from Africa increased among the plantations, ranches and mines. Fewer troops guarding the Spanish Main weakened the settlements. The economy of Spain became stagnant...
The book just proves all my points presented in my book “Admiral Lee and the First Global War.”
(Kindle Ed., p. 17)
The wealth of the Spanish Empire provided the world with its first global currency. Known as pieces of eight, these coins—the front of which bore the coat of arms of the Hapsburg dynasty which ruled Spain—were used from South America to the Philippines but were accepted all over the commercial world. One coin would have been the equal of a fifty-pound note in today’s economy, ample reason for the zest with which the pirate entrepreneurs sought to plunder Spanish ships.
I agree and disagree: Yes, it was the Habsburg-Spanish power that established the first global currency, but it was silver, which Spain had the most abundant revenue in the world from its vast colonies in the Americas.
(Kindle Ed., p. 27)
...Many travelers were on their way to make their annual Haj to Mecca, the religious pilgrimage required of devout Muslims. The pirates would ambush the pilgrims along with the merchants of the East India Company off the coasts of Malabar, Coromandel, and Reunion Island, which was owned by France...
In the middle of the Indian Ocean: The English and Dutch East India Companies were not colonial territories yet. Although the English East India Company was established in 1603, Indian ports and passages were not under the English naval control until Great Britain won the conflict with France over India and North America in the mid- to late-18th century. Until then it was France, which controlled the most important Indian ports and passages in the Indian Ocean.
Lastly I’d like to point out the difference between the pirates of France and England of the time that this book has missed: Like the book says there were French pirates, actually leading global pirates targeting the rich Spanish booty, but they were “pirates” for France, whereas the English pirates were like the “national naval forces” for England at the time.
Except that I would like to highly rate this book. Off the beginning the book hooks the serious readers into a depth of the story introducing a realistic history, not a Hollywood-driven, made-up fairy tale of adventurers.
(Kindle Ed., p. 1)
...The Golden Age of Piracy arose from a time when the powers of Europe were locked in a fierce battle for naval and mercantile supremacy, and as the fortunes of the nations ebbed and flowed, so did piracy.
These early lines make clear the reason I wanted to read this book.
(Kindle Ed., p. 9)
...In later years, an English monarch would use her sailors—called pirates by the Spanish who were victimized by their raids—to replenish the royal treasury and attack her enemies even as she pretended to know nothing about their deeds...
This book is so real: That was how unofficial, unorganized the English Navy was in the 16th and 17th centuries. On the other hand, the French Navy under Bourbon Dynasty, officially supplied and armed under the flag of the nation, prevailed over the English until the 18th century.
Today at school and everywhere we’ve been taught that there a rivalry between England and France was going on since the Hundred Years’ War, but seriously it was France, which dominated and led the European affairs and global economy from the mid-17th century to the early-19th century. We often forget that the mighty British naval power first had to overcome the established French naval power in the global water passages to take over the position as the global hegemon in the 19th to early-half of the 20th century.
(Kindle Ed., pp. 10-11)
When Elizabeth I ascended to the throne, her sailors were described as pirates by other nations. The English colony at Roanoke, Virginia was a base for attacks on Spanish shipping. However, there were ramifications to English piracy, as English business interests suffered losses in the water on their own coasts. The monarchy wanted its own routes to be safe from attack, but the merchants and towns that it commissioned as privateers were not paid from the royal treasury and had to outfit their ships at their own expense. The terms of commission permitted them to capture the wealth on the ships in order to recoup their own losses, which meant that instead of easing the problem of piracy, the merchants opted to win back lost money by plundering anyone with goods worth stealing. Elizabeth I’s state papers confirm that hundreds of complaints and petitions for compensation were issued, but punishment was inconsistent and lax. When pirates in the Straits of Dover seized the ship carrying the Queen’s emissary to the French court, a dozen of the emissary’s retainers were killed and property was stolen. Because the Queen was the victim of this attack, hundreds of pirates were jailed, but only three were hanged. The Queen displayed that characteristic pragmatism for which she was known. She made use of the pirates whose wealth benefited her, and chastised them when other monarchs complained. The criminals who sabotaged English shipping were heroes when they attacked England’s foes. Elizabeth took a share of the booty, and provided ships for the pirates. Pirates who had patrons in government provided profit for those officials. The pirates themselves often found that success awaited them.
This was the real face of the renowned English naval power, whose tale was created in the 19th to 20th century under the British lead of the global order. And the idea was supported by the English victory against the Spanish Armada in 1588, although the Habsburg-Spanish Maritime Empire remained the head of global order until its defeat to Bourbon-France by the mid-17th century. It is unwise to believe that the ultimate Spanish decline immediately ensued by that one defeat in 1588, while we all know the United States today in 2018 still remains the head of our global order despite its humiliating defeat in Vietnam back in the 1970s.
The examples and evidence of the real face of English naval power in the 16th to 17th century continue throughout pages.
(Kindle Ed., pp. 11-12)
Elizabeth didn’t have the money to build a wartime Navy, and the Spanish, the might of Europe, were about to launch their Armada against her small nation. In order to protect English commercial interests, she instituted privateering, which commissioned privately owned vessels with letters of marque from the Crown which allowed them to interrupt and capture the ships of their enemies during times of war. The letters provided for prizes—contraband from an enemy—to be confiscated by an Admiralty Court with a division of the goods going to the privateers, other officials, and the Crown. Privateering, which had existed as a practice before the threat of the Armada, became sanctioned in the 1580s as war loomed. Letters of reprisal allowed the bearer to pursue operations that interrupted enemy shipping even though there was not yet a declaration of war against that enemy. Privateers with the promise of government sanction and enemy prizes set to their work with alacrity. Martin Frobisher was called into service and given command of a squadron of ships when the Spanish Armada threatened in 1588. He was enraged when Sir Francis Drake, a pirate who was rewarded with a knighthood for his prize-taking prowess, seized a Spanish ship as part of the spoils of war. Frobisher said, “".....she (the Spanish Galleon) had spent her masts, then like a coward he (Drake) kept by her all night because he would have all the spoil. He thinketh to cozen us of our shares of 15 Thousand ducats: but we will have our shares or I will make him spend the best blood in his belly: for [I have] had enough of those cozening cheats already." Frobisher wasn’t irate at the taking of the ship; he was furious because Drake was taking more than his legitimate share of the plunder. Frobisher himself earned a knighthood for his distinguished service during the Armada engagement. Under Elizabeth, the duality of this authorized pirate was exhibited through the careers of not only Francis Drake but also Sir Walter Raleigh, John Hawkins, Richard Grenville, and the Gilberts, whose climb in rank did not suffer from their pirate leanings. As Sir Henry Mainwaring, pirate turned admiral of the navy under King James I, put it “...the State may hereafter want such men who are commonly the most serviceable in war."
(Kindle Ed., p. 21)
The sacking of Porto Bello, Panama City, and Maracaibo by England’s Henry Morgan was enormously lucrative and, as was the case for other Englishmen, eventually led to a knighthood, this one from King Charles II. The honor would have been disputed by the nations whose ships he plundered...
Even under Charles II, whose reign went through the late-half of the 17th century from 1660 to 1685, during the early years of the French championship in Europe and over the global water passages building huge colonies in India, Africa and especially in North America, the English pirates had to work for English Navy. At the time the English got through their Civil War, whereas the French just won the global warfare against the Habsburg Empire by 1660, and so parliamentary England had much less colonies compared to those of monarchical France under the centralized and united power of “absolute” Bourbon Dynasty, though England’s rise was to come rather soon with her unification with Scotland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain in the early-18th century.
(Kindle Ed., p. 13)
Spain was a barometer of the viability of the pirate trade, and behind Spain was the power of the Roman Catholic Church and the nation’s own religious zeal. Changes were coming to Europe, the effects of which would ripple throughout the New World. Religion, which had proved so destructive an element to the stability of Europe, would also plant divisive seeds in the New World. The Thirty Years War lasted from 1618-1648 and included not only the doctrinal conflict between Protestants and Catholics that the Reformation had incited, but also between Catholic powers Spain and France. The war itself was actually fought in Germany; casualties devastated the population, but war was not contained by Europe’s boundaries. As the power of Spain diminished in Europe, the effects would eventually be seen in Spain’s colonial empire. Dependence on slave labor from Africa increased among the plantations, ranches and mines. Fewer troops guarding the Spanish Main weakened the settlements. The economy of Spain became stagnant...
The book just proves all my points presented in my book “Admiral Lee and the First Global War.”
(Kindle Ed., p. 17)
The wealth of the Spanish Empire provided the world with its first global currency. Known as pieces of eight, these coins—the front of which bore the coat of arms of the Hapsburg dynasty which ruled Spain—were used from South America to the Philippines but were accepted all over the commercial world. One coin would have been the equal of a fifty-pound note in today’s economy, ample reason for the zest with which the pirate entrepreneurs sought to plunder Spanish ships.
I agree and disagree: Yes, it was the Habsburg-Spanish power that established the first global currency, but it was silver, which Spain had the most abundant revenue in the world from its vast colonies in the Americas.
(Kindle Ed., p. 27)
...Many travelers were on their way to make their annual Haj to Mecca, the religious pilgrimage required of devout Muslims. The pirates would ambush the pilgrims along with the merchants of the East India Company off the coasts of Malabar, Coromandel, and Reunion Island, which was owned by France...
In the middle of the Indian Ocean: The English and Dutch East India Companies were not colonial territories yet. Although the English East India Company was established in 1603, Indian ports and passages were not under the English naval control until Great Britain won the conflict with France over India and North America in the mid- to late-18th century. Until then it was France, which controlled the most important Indian ports and passages in the Indian Ocean.
Lastly I’d like to point out the difference between the pirates of France and England of the time that this book has missed: Like the book says there were French pirates, actually leading global pirates targeting the rich Spanish booty, but they were “pirates” for France, whereas the English pirates were like the “national naval forces” for England at the time.
December 12, 2020
Yo ho ho
I like reading about pirates. I really like reading about pirates in historical romances, but I am fully aware that they are not the same.
In "The Princess Bride," I assumed that the Dread Pirate Roberts referred to Bartholomew Roberts, or Black Bart, one of the bloodiest pirates in recorded history. I read a wonderful book called "The Sweet Trade" by Elizabeth Garrett, which was about Anne Bonny and Mary Read. It contained a wealth of information about them and how they hooked up with Calico Jack Rackham.
This brief history of pirates is quite interesting if you want to know more about real pirates. Most of them came to a bad end just as they knew they would.
4
I like reading about pirates. I really like reading about pirates in historical romances, but I am fully aware that they are not the same.
In "The Princess Bride," I assumed that the Dread Pirate Roberts referred to Bartholomew Roberts, or Black Bart, one of the bloodiest pirates in recorded history. I read a wonderful book called "The Sweet Trade" by Elizabeth Garrett, which was about Anne Bonny and Mary Read. It contained a wealth of information about them and how they hooked up with Calico Jack Rackham.
This brief history of pirates is quite interesting if you want to know more about real pirates. Most of them came to a bad end just as they knew they would.
4
April 30, 2025
Wasn't bad. Wasn't that good either. The repetitions could've been avoided. I would've liked it if it contained more details of pirates and their deeds. Some things could've been avoided to make more room for those.
Still, I'm ok with this book.
Book #17 of 2025..
Hourly History #29
Still, I'm ok with this book.
Book #17 of 2025..
Hourly History #29
February 15, 2017
Who hasn’t followed the often humorous antics and actions of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean series? Those more vintage readers, like me, remember Kirk Douglas, Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, and Douglas Fairbanks as the charismatic buccaneers that got the bootie and the beautiful heroine. Like the outlaws of the Wild West and their twentieth-century counterparts, Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Bonny and Clyde, the real thing was a far cry from their silver screen impersonators.
It could be claimed that piracy is the second oldest profession as thieves were on the open seas and coastal waters long before the birth of Christ. The Golden Age of Piracy is roughly during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Due to hostilities brewing in Europe and the riches imported from far-flung colonization. Letters of marque were issued by heads of state, giving piracy a certain degree of legality but were often used to attack neutral as well as enemy shipping. A vast majority of these adventurers of the sea were eventually caught and met an ignominious death at the end of a rope.
This book is bite size but it presents a clear and concise picture of the shameful occupation on the high seas and shows how the practice underwent numerous metamorphosis’s as times, politics, and customs changes. In the title is written that this is a history from beginning to end. Unfortunately, this is an erroneous statement as piracy continues to flourish today. Even now, with the Twenty-first Century well underway, ships from all nations are being attacked and seized off the African coast around Somalia. Like the oldest profession in the world, piracy will probably exist as long as people see a profit and are willing to take the risk.
It could be claimed that piracy is the second oldest profession as thieves were on the open seas and coastal waters long before the birth of Christ. The Golden Age of Piracy is roughly during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Due to hostilities brewing in Europe and the riches imported from far-flung colonization. Letters of marque were issued by heads of state, giving piracy a certain degree of legality but were often used to attack neutral as well as enemy shipping. A vast majority of these adventurers of the sea were eventually caught and met an ignominious death at the end of a rope.
This book is bite size but it presents a clear and concise picture of the shameful occupation on the high seas and shows how the practice underwent numerous metamorphosis’s as times, politics, and customs changes. In the title is written that this is a history from beginning to end. Unfortunately, this is an erroneous statement as piracy continues to flourish today. Even now, with the Twenty-first Century well underway, ships from all nations are being attacked and seized off the African coast around Somalia. Like the oldest profession in the world, piracy will probably exist as long as people see a profit and are willing to take the risk.
April 14, 2019
This book give an overview of the history of pirates from ancient times to modern day. It does not go into detail about pirates daily lives or much detail, but it does give a brief summary of many of the big name pirates, both men women, and how they were sometimes sanctions by governments and at other times, punished, according to the whim of the monarch in power. I learned a lot about some pirates that I didn't know before, such as Grace O'Malley and Calico Jack Rackham. This is a realistic look at pirating and not the glamorized view we have gotten from the movies. My summary is that I learned a lot, although briefly, about many areas of pirates through the ages.
February 23, 2019
A review of a very good book entitled PIRATES:THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY which is a enjoyed read put out or published by HOURLY HISTORY!!!!
I choose a rating of very good because I learned something!!! I was impressed by their writing about the GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY!!!!!I would recommend this book to anyone regardless of age!!!!!!! THIS IS A GOOD READ FOLLOWED BY BEING A LEARNING EXPERIENCE!!!!
I choose a rating of very good because I learned something!!! I was impressed by their writing about the GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY!!!!!I would recommend this book to anyone regardless of age!!!!!!! THIS IS A GOOD READ FOLLOWED BY BEING A LEARNING EXPERIENCE!!!!
February 16, 2024
I wanted to read a non fiction book about pirates and I'm glad I choose this one. However I didn't realize it was this short and that is my fault. We are given a brief history of the start of piracy as well as some info on famous pirates. It was also interesting to learn about kings and queens who did endorse and at times encouraged pirates -or I guess I should say privateers - into robbing other nations.
October 11, 2024
Pirates The Golden Age of Pirates — Hourly History (6 titled chapters) March 11, 2024
A quick history of pirates dating back to the Roman Empire and Egyptian time periods. Not really worth reading if you are any sort of a lover of pirate history as all of these facts have been covered on the internet. However, it does put the facts all together in one place.
It is a quick read, maybe one hour at the most.
Two stars.
A quick history of pirates dating back to the Roman Empire and Egyptian time periods. Not really worth reading if you are any sort of a lover of pirate history as all of these facts have been covered on the internet. However, it does put the facts all together in one place.
It is a quick read, maybe one hour at the most.
Two stars.
December 21, 2020
Interesting Pirate Quick Read
I love pirate movies and was curious to "know" more. As the author states, there is much more to piracy than Hollywood movies. This was an easy and interesting read. I now want to read more about Grace O'Malley(girl power!), Pirates of the Pirates Round, William Kidd and Buccaneers of the Caribbean just to name a few that caught my interest.
I love pirate movies and was curious to "know" more. As the author states, there is much more to piracy than Hollywood movies. This was an easy and interesting read. I now want to read more about Grace O'Malley(girl power!), Pirates of the Pirates Round, William Kidd and Buccaneers of the Caribbean just to name a few that caught my interest.
December 31, 2019
This is a great little introduction into the history of piracy. I knew nothing about the true history before reading and definitely gave me more avenues to research and explore on my own!
If you want a quick and comprehensive overview I’d recommend! ✨✨
If you want a quick and comprehensive overview I’d recommend! ✨✨
March 29, 2020
Well researched ebook on the buccaneers erase.
Another well researched ebook on the golden era of Pirates or Buccaneers. Stealing from ships was indeed a lucrative business during the 17th century. Also privateering was used as an alternative tactic.
Another well researched ebook on the golden era of Pirates or Buccaneers. Stealing from ships was indeed a lucrative business during the 17th century. Also privateering was used as an alternative tactic.
December 26, 2020
Well written, very interesting. If you want a short, simple, overview with some topical information that you can get through in about an hour, this is a great choice! Then you can dive into the things you find the most interesting in further reading.
January 26, 2021
I love Pirates! I have no clue why I just do. This is a really great read of the different lives of pirates,their lives and how they lived and who they went after. Adventure,excitement you have in this book by Henry Freeman. Look forward to looking for more books he has written.
May 12, 2021
Entertaining book.
I have found this book to be both informative and entertaining. The stories enclosed show how tough the life of a pirate actually had been. Trying to imitate Orlando Bloom and sing about a bottle of rum wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.
I have found this book to be both informative and entertaining. The stories enclosed show how tough the life of a pirate actually had been. Trying to imitate Orlando Bloom and sing about a bottle of rum wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.
June 11, 2021
Pirates: the golden age of piracy
A couple of interesting bits on individuals that I wasn’t familiar with. As an aside, Captain William Morgan lived at Llanrumney Hall, Cardiff, which is today the home of Llanrumney Rugby Club.
A couple of interesting bits on individuals that I wasn’t familiar with. As an aside, Captain William Morgan lived at Llanrumney Hall, Cardiff, which is today the home of Llanrumney Rugby Club.
November 2, 2024
Pirates
This is an interesting short read on the history of piracy. My one complaint is the last several paragraphs of the introduction are the first several paragraphs of the first chapter.
This is an interesting short read on the history of piracy. My one complaint is the last several paragraphs of the introduction are the first several paragraphs of the first chapter.
March 15, 2019
It was a quick read but didn’t live up to my expectations, shame. Repeated itself a bit too.
March 6, 2021
An interesting, not to mention educational, read. The story begins "way back when", which was no surprise, and it continues right up to today, which was a bit of a surprise for a moment.
June 12, 2021
◾The truth is that piracy never really ends; it merely finds more lucrative surroundings.
July 29, 2021
Decent
Good and interesting historical perspective, although would like more detail on the individual pirates.
May be that there is little available??
Good and interesting historical perspective, although would like more detail on the individual pirates.
May be that there is little available??
September 27, 2021
Well, I've learned more about where pirates come from. Informative book. Not much to say lol
October 7, 2021
Great short read
Good quick read on the history of piracy. Starting from the early years BC to current Somalia. I recommend this book.
Good quick read on the history of piracy. Starting from the early years BC to current Somalia. I recommend this book.
April 7, 2022
A very engaging concise history of piracy.
July 9, 2022
Arrghh, Matey.
Good, quick overview of the history of pirates...who probably never said ‘Arrggh’ except for Robert Newton in Treasure Island. Thanks.
Good, quick overview of the history of pirates...who probably never said ‘Arrggh’ except for Robert Newton in Treasure Island. Thanks.
May 31, 2023
short primer
A good concise read for an overall account of the history of piracy. Easily readable in less than two hours
A good concise read for an overall account of the history of piracy. Easily readable in less than two hours
October 29, 2019
For thousands of years, pirates have terrorized the high seas and the coastal communities. They, plundered ship and shore, and wrought havoc on the lives and livelihoods of rich and poor alike. Around these desperate men has grown a body of myths and legends—fascinating tales that today strongly influence our notions of pirates and piracy. Most of these myths derive from the pirates of the “Golden Age,” from roughly 1655 to 1725. This was the age of the Spanish Main, of Henry Morgan and Blackbeard, of Bartholomew Sharp and Bartholomew Roberts.
We have grown up on the history of pirate myth at the movies. The truth is far more interesting. In The Golden Age of Piracy, debunks the myths that derive from this era—from the flying of the Jolly Roger to the burying of treasure, from walking the plank to the staging of epic sea battles—and shows that the truth is far more fascinating and disturbing than the romanticized legends.
Interesting to learn that pirates of the Golden Age never made their captives walk the plank and that they, instead, were subject to horrendous torture, such as being burned or hung by their arms. Likewise, epic sea battles involving pirates were fairly rare because most prey surrendered immediately.
We have grown up on the history of pirate myth at the movies. The truth is far more interesting. In The Golden Age of Piracy, debunks the myths that derive from this era—from the flying of the Jolly Roger to the burying of treasure, from walking the plank to the staging of epic sea battles—and shows that the truth is far more fascinating and disturbing than the romanticized legends.
Interesting to learn that pirates of the Golden Age never made their captives walk the plank and that they, instead, were subject to horrendous torture, such as being burned or hung by their arms. Likewise, epic sea battles involving pirates were fairly rare because most prey surrendered immediately.
December 14, 2016
This eBook is a free download in kindle. Though the tagline is Hourly history, this book provides ample information about the beginning of piracy during the Roman era to the Somali pirates. Most of us know that Caesar was taken custody by the pirates early in his career.
We can get some knowledge about the famous pirates such as Tragut Rais, Grace O' Malley, William Kidd and Blackbeard. The life of Grace O' Malley, who is the first woman pirate and the notorious Edward Teach who best known to this world as Blackbeard are given.
I came to know the meaning of Greek word pirate as "I attempt". The author has wrote what kindled the growth of piracy. "The Golden Age of Piracy arose from a time when the powers of Europe were locked in a fierce battle for navel and mercantile supremacy, and as the fortunes of the nations ebbed and flowed so did piracy".
William Maurice was the first man in England to be convicted of piracy in 1241. Not every pirates faced hangman's noose, there are some exception like Henry Every who was one of the pirate round was more fortunate and bribed for his protection, lived and died later in London.
A separate chapter is included for Piracy and Privateering. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
We can get some knowledge about the famous pirates such as Tragut Rais, Grace O' Malley, William Kidd and Blackbeard. The life of Grace O' Malley, who is the first woman pirate and the notorious Edward Teach who best known to this world as Blackbeard are given.
I came to know the meaning of Greek word pirate as "I attempt". The author has wrote what kindled the growth of piracy. "The Golden Age of Piracy arose from a time when the powers of Europe were locked in a fierce battle for navel and mercantile supremacy, and as the fortunes of the nations ebbed and flowed so did piracy".
William Maurice was the first man in England to be convicted of piracy in 1241. Not every pirates faced hangman's noose, there are some exception like Henry Every who was one of the pirate round was more fortunate and bribed for his protection, lived and died later in London.
A separate chapter is included for Piracy and Privateering. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
September 24, 2019
This book did a nice job of contrasting the movie version of piracy with the murder and enslaving practiced by most pirates. Most books just talk about the 'golden age of piracy' in relation to the Old and New World and their commerce with each other. I was interested to find that piracy began long before the New World was found.
Julius Ceasar was captured and ransomed. He warned his captors that he would come after them but they were not impressed. However, Ceasar made believers of his former captors when he arrested them.
There were two parts I particularly liked reading about in this book. Both Christians and Islamic pirates plied their trade for many years. They enslaved those who couldn't get someone to pay their ransom. The book also talks about the piracy that currently takes place. I had no idea they made so much money. Shocking.
Julius Ceasar was captured and ransomed. He warned his captors that he would come after them but they were not impressed. However, Ceasar made believers of his former captors when he arrested them.
There were two parts I particularly liked reading about in this book. Both Christians and Islamic pirates plied their trade for many years. They enslaved those who couldn't get someone to pay their ransom. The book also talks about the piracy that currently takes place. I had no idea they made so much money. Shocking.
August 26, 2016
I always enjoy Henry Freeman books, they are short easy reads that I generally take between fiction books. I enjoy them because in an hour you get good info on an specific subject. This time the book was not that satisfying. With the same paragraph appearing in different parts of the book and having problem with event dates, looks like a draft version of a book. More research was needed on the subject.
August 5, 2016
Piracy: A short History of a Swashbuckling Era
This small book about the history of piracy is another great addition to the Hourly History series. I find it interesting and exciting to read these little books and discover how lives and eras of famous and in this case, infamous people can be so well presented in so brief a work. These books are great springboards for further research, and even teach us about people who, up till now, were unfamiliar to us. As always, I look forward to the next installment.
This small book about the history of piracy is another great addition to the Hourly History series. I find it interesting and exciting to read these little books and discover how lives and eras of famous and in this case, infamous people can be so well presented in so brief a work. These books are great springboards for further research, and even teach us about people who, up till now, were unfamiliar to us. As always, I look forward to the next installment.
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