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Jolly Roger: The Story of the Great Age of Piracy
"Highly entertaining and well-documented." — The New York Times
While history has painted most pirates as "abominable brutes," capable of the worst cruelties and driven by insatiable greed, the author of this fascinating study insists that pirates have suffered more than their share of bad press, mainly from popularizing writers trying to sell books. He notes, for example, that Henry Morgan always carried privateering commissions signed by the governor of Jamaica, and that many pirates bought commissions (and pardons) from governors of the American colonies.
With this in mind, Mr. Pringle tries to separate fact from fiction in chronicling the activities of the infamous men and women who sailed under the black flag during the great age of piracy. Beginning with Sir Francis Drake, the "Father of Modern Piracy," he examines the lives and deeds of such outlaws as Morgan, Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Anne Bonney, and Mary Read, as well as a raft of lesser-known scoundrels, finding, for the most part, that the myths about these maritime marauders are largely overblown.
Pirates, for example, never made their prisoners walk the plank. This was a nineteenth-century fiction with no basis in reality. Moreover, the atrocities pirates are accused of, if true, were no worse, and sometimes not nearly as bad, as the horrific punishments (brandings, drawing and quartering, burning alive, etc.), meted out by legitimate governments of the age.
In short, while piracy undoubtedly was a fact of life in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the reality was far less brutal and blood-soaked than the sensationalizing writers of the time and of a later day would have us believe. The true state of affairs is unfolded in this engrossing, impeccably accurate history, sure to delight any armchair sailor, maritime historian or old salt with its balanced, highly readable study of the seagoing brigands who sailed under the Jolly Roger.
While history has painted most pirates as "abominable brutes," capable of the worst cruelties and driven by insatiable greed, the author of this fascinating study insists that pirates have suffered more than their share of bad press, mainly from popularizing writers trying to sell books. He notes, for example, that Henry Morgan always carried privateering commissions signed by the governor of Jamaica, and that many pirates bought commissions (and pardons) from governors of the American colonies.
With this in mind, Mr. Pringle tries to separate fact from fiction in chronicling the activities of the infamous men and women who sailed under the black flag during the great age of piracy. Beginning with Sir Francis Drake, the "Father of Modern Piracy," he examines the lives and deeds of such outlaws as Morgan, Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Anne Bonney, and Mary Read, as well as a raft of lesser-known scoundrels, finding, for the most part, that the myths about these maritime marauders are largely overblown.
Pirates, for example, never made their prisoners walk the plank. This was a nineteenth-century fiction with no basis in reality. Moreover, the atrocities pirates are accused of, if true, were no worse, and sometimes not nearly as bad, as the horrific punishments (brandings, drawing and quartering, burning alive, etc.), meted out by legitimate governments of the age.
In short, while piracy undoubtedly was a fact of life in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the reality was far less brutal and blood-soaked than the sensationalizing writers of the time and of a later day would have us believe. The true state of affairs is unfolded in this engrossing, impeccably accurate history, sure to delight any armchair sailor, maritime historian or old salt with its balanced, highly readable study of the seagoing brigands who sailed under the Jolly Roger.
294 pages, Paperback
First published August 9, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 29, 2016
Book written with all new research, captain's logs, trial transcripts, contemporary letters and official documents from national reserves. It puts a fresh outlook on pirates and privateers. They were not the bloodthirsty demons from movies and books, but rather, for the most part, businessmen who would not fight unless they had to. Many of the ships were put into the water with backers from the richest people of the day and also many of the governments of that time. PS There is not one contemporary report of any pirate making even one single individual walk the plank. Not even one for any purpose. And pirate captains were democratically elected, so none of that swash that you see on the screen and very little of the buckle!!
An eye opener, anyone interested in the history of these misrepresented times should read this one. It is very hard to get your hands on a copy, this one was borrowed from the Kalamazoo Public Library. Thanks, Kalamazoo Public Library!!
An eye opener, anyone interested in the history of these misrepresented times should read this one. It is very hard to get your hands on a copy, this one was borrowed from the Kalamazoo Public Library. Thanks, Kalamazoo Public Library!!
December 2, 2010
An attempt at history of an ahistorical bunch. Written in an age when piracy was a long dead fashion, no longer a horrible reality, 1953.
May 9, 2014
An excellent survey of the practices, lore and character of pirates of the Pirate Age, full with myths debunked and authorities corrected. Very enjoyable and witty naration as well.
April 23, 2013
This Pirate book gave more detailed histories on key pirates, like a supplemental reader to the History of Pirates.
January 20, 2020
Good information, but the fashion in which it was presented could have been improved. Pringle spends much of the book denouncing the works of Exquemelin and Johnson, dismissing them as embellished and untrue, yet accepts their accounts at other times without offering any reason why one of the previously dismissed authors is suddenly presenting accurate information. In my eye, this made Pringle himself less reliable. He had far too many references to himself and his findings, which I find off-putting when reading history.
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August 24, 2020Excellent read. It iws academic in scope but written in non-academic language for the general public comprehension. I am referring to it in my MATH 014 Criminals encyclopedia.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews