 A Golden Age of Pirate Scholarship
The past few years have brought us a number of excellent books about piracy and pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries, including Richard Zacks' The Pirate Hunter and Richard Sanders' If a Pirate I Must Be....
Colin Woodard's The Republic of Pirates stands tall with such contemporaries. It is a copiously researched and well-written history of the Caribbean pirates of the first quarter of the 18th century, with a focus on Sam Bellamy, Edward Thatch (a.k.a. Blackbeard), and Charles Vane. Woodard's account is very detailed, so the narrative can slow down here and there, but by and large, the book is highly engrossing. I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone with even a minimal interest in the subject.
I've taken off a star really only because the subtitle is a bit misleading (as the book itself explains in great thoroughness, the "Man" in question, Woodes Rogers, was only one of several forces which undid the pirate republic).
republic of pirates
I gave it as a gift so I haven't read the whole thing. I heard it reviewed on NPR. Quick delivery, good shape. Interesting subject.
Great read!
Very informative and at the same time enjoyable. A well constructed story that made the period come alive.
 Republic of Pirates - A good read
The author did research and endeavored to find out as much as he could about the famous and infamous pirates, their background, life styles and descriptions of the places they lived as well as the many types of ships of that period. The book gives good descriptions of what it was like to be a sailor on a pirate ship and surprisingly how most men were not volunteers. It's an interesting history lesson in many ways but never boring and sometimes amusing. I was interested in a particular pivateer turned pirate named Ashworth but there wasn't any information on his eventual fate or last known residence.
The accounts of Blackbeard and the other famous pirates were good and even the two women pirates one well known and the other not at all.
I enjoyed the book very much. HIghly recommended.
The Republic of Pirates
This was a great book. Its got everything a pirate lover needs: Blackbeard, "Black Sam" Bellamy, The Queen Anne's Revenge, rum, shipwrecks, and true life adventure and plunder.
This book focuses on a hide out in the Bahamas used pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy (1715-1725) which eventually turned into a sort of revolutionary republic. Eventually the pirates basically owned the Caribbean and the Eastern Seabord of America, grinding merchant shipping to a halt.
It also explains how pirates were viewed as heroes to common people because they stood for everything which was opposite from the absolute authoritative practices of the 18th century. They were especially heroic to sailors at the time because if you sailed with a British Navy or a merchant ship you would be severely beat for minor infractions and always cheated out of your pay (pirate ships were run democratically and all plunder was equally shared). The pirates also freed slaves from slave ships and welcomed them to their crew.
This was a great book which I highly recommend to anyone who likes pirates or just a good, easy, and exciting read.
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