Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "golden-age"

Pirates in Truth and Tale by Helen Hollick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One might ask why we need another book that focuses on the ‘Golden Age’ of piracy – you know the one that takes place mostly in the Caribbean between 1713 and 1730 – but Hollick’s examination is far more than simply about those swashbuckling scoundrels. She sets the stage in her foreword, summarizing several key points:

a. real pirates versus their fictional counterparts;
b. society’s changing attitudes toward them, as well as its fascination with them;
c. definitions for all the various terms that denote pirates;
d. piracy through the ages; and
e. reality vs romanticism.

To emphasize these points her first chapter discusses “What We Think We Know about Pirates,” while the second focuses on “What We Ought to Know” and includes the caveat “(Skip This Chapter If You Don’t Want To Be Disillusioned).”

Within the 328 pages, she introduces us to a wide array of pirates, including some who rarely show up in other history books. Aside from the usual suspects (in no particular order) – Henry Jennings, Charles Vane, Samuel Bellamy, William Dampier, Bartholomew Roberts, Blackbeard, Jack Rackham, and William Kidd to name only a few – we also meet Daniel Montbars, Jan Baert, and Ignatius Pell (only a sampling). In addition, you’ll find a handful of governors, including Thomas Modyford, Alexander Spotswood, and Woodes Rogers. There are chapters on the 1715 wreck of the Spanish treasure fleet, medicine, ships, weaponry, clothing, and safe havens, not to mention interesting tidbits like the pirate plunder that funded a college.

Don’t fear though! Women get a fair shake, too. In addition to Anne Bonny and Mary Read, you’ll learn about Jeanne de Clisson, Elise Eskilsdotter, Ladies Mary and Elizabeth Killigrew, Jacquotte Delahaye, Anne Dieu-le-Veut, Jeanne Baret, Rachel Wall, and Grace O’Malley. What you might not expect are the other women who went to sea, such as Jeanne Baret, Hannah Snell, and Mary Lacy. Or the fact that a number of sea-songs concern females who donned male attire, joined the Royal Navy, and then were unmasked.

Nor is piracy the only topic explored within this book, although these are all related in some way. Since many pirates began life either as naval personnel or merchant marines, and because they rarely left behind detailed notes on the mundane details of their daily lives, Hollick discusses the tobacco and slave trades, indenture, fidelity, tattooing, shipboard life and navigation, and superstitions.

But wait! If you think that’s all, there’s still more. After all, the subtitle of this book is “Truth and Tales.” Not only does Hollick examine fictional pirates in print and film, she talks about writing from her own perspective as the author of the Sea Witch adventures, which star Captain Jesamiah Acorne, and she treats us to excerpts from some of his piratical adventures, as well as from Celia Reese’s Pirates! and James L. Nelson’s The Only Life That Mattered. Among the pirates of fiction you’ll find Captains Hook and Sparrow, Long John Silver, and Black Sails. As for Pirates of the Caribbean, she also shares the impact this series of movies has had on people’s lives. While she shares what books and movies get right and wrong, she also makes a great observation:

The limitless realm of the imagination when telling stories or writing fiction gives us leave to plunder reality as blatantly as those rascal scallywags plundered treasure. (29)

In addition to all this information, the book also includes a timeline that begins in 1492 with Columbus’s “discovery” of the Caribbean and Americas, and ends with the death of Governor Spotswood in 1740. There are a Glossary of Terms – more varied than often seen in nautical books – and Nautical Measurements, which come before the bibliography. There is no index, but scattered throughout the book are color photographs with interesting captions.

Another item that Hollick addresses pertains to an often-asked question: What about a pirate named so-and-so? To reinforce the fact that the majority of pirates are simply unknown or merely names in a document, she lists the crews of Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard, Edward Lowe, George Lowther, and Charles Vane. Most simply provide the person’s name and the trial’s outcome – all that is known about them. Only a few include additional information.

The book consists of fifty-three chapters, each two to thirteen pages long with the majority falling somewhere in between. Her explanation of the War of the Spanish Succession is concise and easy to understand, one of the best I’ve encountered. Much of the information on sea shanties and tattooing, which predominantly covers the time period after the Golden Age, pertains to sailors in general. The same is true about prisons and punishments, but all four subjects are enlightening. On occasion it’s difficult to distinguish what’s more myth than fact – good examples being Blackbeard’s many wives and pirate flags – since there are no footnotes or endnotes and myths are one topic she doesn’t cover.

The statement that the skill of smuggling led to the Revolutionary War and American Independence is an oversimplification. Gory details are explicit, but the book is geared toward adults and mature readers, just like her Jesamiah Acorne stories. There are enough misspelled words – not including the differences in spelling between British and American English – and missing words that readers will notice. But there is far more to recommend this book than these minor problems.

There are also two chapters that deserve special mention. The first is highly helpful for those who wish to mimic the way pirates spoke on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Hollick lives in the West Country, the region where many seamen and pirates hailed from in the past, so she offers her expertise so you can learn some Devonish and speak it with a West Country accent.

At least for me, the most intriguing chapter concerns the real identity of Captain Charles Johnson, the mysterious author who wrote A General History of the Pyrates. She talks about the two current likely candidates – Nathaniel Mist and Daniel Defoe – and provides plausible reasons why neither choice is convincing. She puts forth her own contender– and no, I cannot even be tortured into sharing who that person is – which makes perfect sense, even if there’s no hard evidence to support this possibility. Even the reason for using the pseudonym of Charles Johnson works.

Don’t be fooled. This pirate book is unlike any other one. It resembles a scavenger hunt, and you’re never quite certain where the trail will lead next. Yet Pirates is entertaining and enlightening, with a good mix of facts and fiction. At times tongue-in-cheek, Hollick’s narrative holds your interest and keeps the pages turning. The inclusion of details outside the narrower scope of piracy provides a global perspective, rather than simply viewing the Golden Age marauders in isolation. Two additional strengths are the inclusion of lesser-known facts and general information that can’t be found in other piratical volumes. The questions she poses make you think and question what you’ve read in other books on piracy.

But this book may not be for everyone. Those who seek serious pirate history will probably want to look elsewhere. Pirates is geared toward readers seeking general information spiced with an entertaining cornucopia of fact and fiction that makes the book a tremendous resource for a pirate trivia game.




View all my reviews

Pirates: The Truth Behind the Robbers of the High Seas by Nigel Cawthorne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Since the first trading boats traveled by sea, piracy has plagued mankind. As early as 694 BC an Assyrian king attempts to suppress the marauding, but still it continues. More than one man, including Miguel de Cervantes, suffers because of pirates. Whether in the past or today, these sea rogues endanger passengers and seamen alike, yet of all the various time periods in which it has been rife, piracy reached its zenith from the west coast of Africa to the Spanish Main, from Canadian waters to the South Seas during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This historical period, often referred to as the “golden age,” is the focus of this book.

Unlike many volumes on these pirates, this one opens with the victims. It includes some firsthand accounts, such as those experienced by victims of George Lowther or Aaron Smith – a man who tangled with pirates twice, was forced to accompany one group, and was tried three times for piracy.

From there, the book delves into privateering and the buccaneers. This period begins with Jean Fleury’s astounding capture of Spain’s treasure-laden ships – an event that confirmed rumors of fantastic wealth and spurred other countries to explore for these riches. According to the subheading within privateering, those of England are featured. Yet half the chapter focuses on the French Huguenots, while the remainder concentrates on the exploits of Sir Francis Drake, concluding with a snippet about the Dutch, especially Piet Heyn.

Other chapters examine Port Royal, the weapons and ships of the pirates, what life was like for one of these marauders, the lure of oriental riches, tactics, and attempts to stop piratical depredations. The usual suspects can be found within these pages – Bartholomew Roberts, William Kidd, and Blackbeard to name a few – as well as lesser-known ones, such as Charles Gibbs, Robert Waal, and François le Clerc (better known as Pie de Palo or Peg Leg). Mention is also made of two primary sources: Captain Johnson’s A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates and Alexandre Exquemelin’s Bucaniers of America.

This is a highly readable introduction to piracy. The majority of the presented information is factual, although source citations are omitted for the most part. Readers should be aware, however, that there are occasional statements that aren’t true or supported by facts. For example, not everyone believes that Daniel Defoe and Captain Johnson are one and the same; in fact, there is supporting evidence to suggest someone else as the author. Or that Blackbeard frequently strangled and tossed his female victims overboard; in reality, there is little historical evidence to support such violence, although he was a master of intimidation. A third example is the blanket statement that the majority of pirates were homosexuals without any supporting documentation to back up this claim.

In spite of these caveats, Pirates is an entertaining and informative romp through the golden age of piracy. Additional kudos to the author for giving victims first priority in this account, when many volumes often give them secondary or even lesser attention. Combined with a list of titles for further reading, an index, and occasional pictures, Pirates is also a good jumping off point for readers who want to dip their toes into the history of sea marauders before diving deeper.




View all my reviews

A Pirate's Life in the Golden Age of Piracy by Robert Jacob

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This hardback book resembles a chronological encyclopedia, of which the majority (forty-one of the sixty chapters) recounts the history of piracy during the golden age. The remainder focuses on aspects of pirate life. Three chapters introduce the subject before the author subdivides the most prolific period in pirate history into four time segments: The Buccaneers 1640-1670, The Buccaneer Pirates 1670-1702, Pirates and Privateers of the War of 1702-1713, and The Pyrates 1714-1722. He also focuses on three particular pirates, whom he identifies as classic representatives of the men who hunted during this time span: Henry Morgan, Blackbeard, and John “Bartholomew” Roberts.

Jacob correctly points out that during these eighty-two years, political support and society’s acceptance of these marauding men and women did not remain static. The same holds true for why they went on the account. This was a time of flux, where one year pirates might be deemed acceptable comrades, but the next they were seen as enemies to be eradicated.

Among the many people and topics discussed in the history section are Christopher Myngs, François L’Olonnais, Henry Morgan’s lawsuit pertaining to the English translation of Alexandre Exquemelin’s The Buccaneers of America, Port Royal, Petit Goave, Michel de Grammont Le Chevalier, Laurens Cornelius Boudewijn de Graaf, William Dampier, Thomas Tew, Governor Benjamin Fletcher, Robert Searle, Marcus Hook, William Snelgrave, Howell Davis, and many more. Some of these can be found in most pirate histories, but others are either merely mentioned or not included at all. The lifestyle section covers such aspects as tools of the trade (ships, weapons, navigation), treasure, food, captives, and textiles.

Scattered throughout this volume are seventy-three pictures and maps. Jacob also includes sidebar notes to point out important dates, key points, and specific people, or to define unfamiliar words. There are no footnotes or endnotes to identify source material quotations and statements. Nor is there an index, which makes it difficult for readers to locate specific information. He does, however, include a glossary and bibliography.

Lack of consistency and clarity are two aspects that readers will notice as they read this book. For example, sometimes ships’ names are italicized; sometimes they are not even in the same paragraph. Several times the text says that a particular subject will be discussed later in chapter; in actuality, the discussion takes part later in the book, which breaks the narrative’s flow and makes it difficult for readers to know where the particular subject matter continues.

There are a number of missing words and misspellings and “many” and “most” are overused. While newspaper articles are a great source of information for cultural aspects of the period, they must be taken with the same grain of salt in which the author objects to the use of Charles Johnson’s A General History of Pirates as a reliable resource. Newspaper editors embellished stories the same way Johnson did, yet Jacob seems to take the articles at face value. Another questionable source is The Pirates Own Book; in fact, Jacob states that “It appears to be accurate.” (125) In actuality, this resource is just as questionable in its historical accuracy as Johnson’s book is.

He believes that Edward Thache and Edward Beard are two acquaintances who went to sea, but that Thache died and Beard adopted his name as alias. If any evidence exists to support this highly speculative hypothesis, Jacob doesn’t provide it. There are a few factual errors. For example, two men who were aboard Whydah at the time of her demise did survive the wreck. Contrary to the author’s belief that “Black” as a name is related to the pirates’ black flags (229), (as in Black Sam Bellamy) the adjective actually refers to the person’s swarthy appearance. Jasper Seagar and Edward England were not the same person.

Jacob is an historical reenactor, whose pursuit of history and historical accuracy led him to write this book. This research shines through in the amount of material that he provides, although some readers may prefer a greater focus on pirate life than the history of these sea rovers, especially since that was a primary reason for his writing this volume. Aside from providing readers with a well-rounded picture of the time period, he also explores what may have motivated the pirates to do what they did. There are times when he inserts his own thoughts into the recounting; these appear in a different font from the main text so readers can easily separate fact from opinion.

Its value lies not in being a book for reading night after night, but in the abundance of information contained within nearly 500 pages. Overall, with the caveats in mind, this is a good resource for those in search of a comprehensive volume on pirate history during the buccaneering and golden piracy eras.

(This review originally appeared at Pirates & Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Jacob.html...)



View all my reviews

The Notorious Edward Low: Pursuing the Last Great Villain of Piracy's Golden Age by Len Travers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


While on a shake-down cruise, HMS Greyhound patrols the waters south of Long Island. She is a sixth-rate warship under the command of Captain Peter Solgard, and he is getting a feel for his new crew. On 10 June 1723, the lookout spots two sloops. Aware that a notorious pirate is loose in these waters, Solgard attempts to trick the scoundrels into thinking his is a merchant ship. Edward Low and his men take the bait, but soon discover that this time there will be no prize and only some will escape with their lives.

The goal of this book is to sift through the old myths that surround Low to determine whether he really was as brutal and ruthless as he has been portrayed in various historical accounts, including newspapers and Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of Pyrates. The author feels that much of Low’s life has been based on rumors and gruesome imagination, so he reexamines and questions what we know about this pirate using unpublished primary source material found in the United Kingdom’s National Archives. He also evaluates “how British Crown authorities used the Royal Navy and new anti-piracy laws to reclaim a measure of authority over North American colonies that attained a worrisome degree of autonomy.” (xiv)

Black-and-white illustrations and quotations open each chapter. Maps and diagrams are also included, as are end notes, a bibliography, index, and four appendices (Low’s Articles of Agreement in 1723, Solgard’s report to the Admiralty, the prisoners Greyhound captured and what happened to them, and excerpts from a minister’s diary).

Travers begins with an examination of pirate history in the Americas, starting with the buccaneers, and shows how they went from being acceptable associates of colonists to criminals who needed to be brought to justice. The brunt of the book discusses Edward Low’s life and how even if he was a sadistic pirate, this was not how he began life or even his piratical career. Like much of pirate history, he evolved and changed. Born in the 1680s, Low eventually made his way to Boston where he got a job, married, and raised a family. Events in his life altered that reality and, in time, set him onto the irreversible path of piracy.

Travers offers readers a thought-provoking, riveting examination into the realities of piracy in colonial America and how the agendas of different people affected what appeared in print about Edward Low and his piracies. The author poses questions and evaluates what is and is not included in such contemporary accounts as Philip Ashton’s narrative of his time as one of Low’s captives. Those seeking a compelling look into the reality of one man’s descent into a criminal life and how the truth was sometimes manipulated to make him a poster child for evil should read The Notorious Edward Low.


(This review was originally published at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Travers.html)



View all my reviews