A Brief History of Pirates and Buccaneers
From Sir Francis Drake to Captain Jack
Brief History Series
by Tom Bowling
Robinson’s Brief History series does just what it says on the cover—each book
gives a brief history of something, which in this case is piracy. The subtitle is From
Sir Francis Drake to Captain Jack but of course piracy is much older than that, as one
band captured Julius Caesar. Then there are river pirates, Vikings, and modern pirates,
which are all touched on in short chapters; but mainly you can read about the "golden age"
of piracy in the late 17th to early 18th centuries. There is certainly plenty of material
for this, and you can learn very quickly all about the likes of Blackbeard (he gets his own
chapter), L’Ollonais, Rackham, Ann Bonney, Captain Kidd, etc. This really is a short and
easy-to-read book that conjures up the world of the pirates and informs the reader what they
got up to, along with where they did it and when, among other things. Neither is it all
in the author’s own words, as there are plenty of eyewitness accounts, including one from
Daniel Defoe and even crew members. If you want to find out more about this fascinating
subject there is a reading list at the back, and a list of websites. I found this to be a
good way of learning the salient facts at speed, and it certainly whetted my appetite for
more. |
The Book |
Robinson (Constable and Robinson) |
January 2010 |
Paperback |
1849012792 / 9781849012799 |
History |
More at Amazon.com
US ||
UK |
Excerpt |
NOTE: |
The Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewed 2010 |
NOTE: |
|