Cindy Vallar's Blog, page 21

Review of Assassins of Kantara

Assassins of Kantara by James Boschert

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The assassins infiltrate and strike without warning. No one defies the Master and lives, but this trio deserve special treatment. No one else matters, so death will come swiftly. But not for the three.

Talon de Gilles has always known this day would come. He comprehends exactly what awaits himself, his wife Rav’an, and his friend Reza. Perhaps not the particulars, but being raised by the Hashashini (or Assassins) make the peril all too real. A familiar face where it should not be. A servant who falls ill. Stealth where it is least expected. Now, the sanctuary Muscat offers is no more, leaving Talon and his family only one choice. To survive, they must flee in a manner in which the world once again swallows them from the Master’s long reach.

But danger trails no matter how far Talon travels. Many years have passed since he made a promise to a king. The time has come to fulfill his pledge, yet the journey is fraught with danger from bandits led by a Frank; the King of Jerusalem’s fragile health has his lords embroiled in a power struggle; and Salah Ed Din, leader of the Arabs, and his army will soon strike at the holy city. Equally disheartening is news that Talon has lost his mentor, a powerful leader among the Templars.

Perhaps Acre offers a better sanctuary. After all, his friend and fellow Templar Max oversees Talon’s trading ventures. But all is not as it should be there, as Talon soon discovers. Max has been imprisoned. All of their property has been confiscated. And an enemy from the past has been amassing evidence to arrest Talon on charges of witchcraft. Time is not on his side. Word reaches Acre that Talon is coming and Max’s health quickly fades. To extricate his friend and the rest of his entourage will require cunning, stealth, and luck. Even then, nothing is assured. And where to go next in search of a safe haven?

From Muscat to Cyprus and Constantinople, this seventh book of Talon’s adventures whisks readers away on a perilous and serpentine journey. Enemies, as well as friends, from the present and the past are interwoven into a labyrinthine maze of intrigue, vengeance, and greed. Subplots from previous titles in the series come to fruition, but not without sacrifice. At the same time, Boschert lays the groundwork for the future. Fans of Talon’s previous adventures will find this story compelling. Those meet him for the first time will be grounded in the myriad twists and turns of this plot, but may want to read the earlier books first to fully grasp the many nuances of this intrepid tour de force.




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Review of The Life and Tryals of the Gentleman Pirate, Major Stede Bonnet

The Life and Tryals of the Gentleman Pirate, Major Stede Bonnet by Jeremy R. Moss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


We think of him as a failure. A man who lurks in the shadows of a stronger personality. A man who squanders his slim chance of evading the hangman’s noose by escaping. Yet none of this is why he engages those interested in pirate history. What intrigues them is the why. What compels a successful and well-respected gentleman to jettison family, friends, position, and wealth to pursue a life of crime?

He was a member of the elite of Barbados. He inherited a vast plantation. He married well and had four children. He even served as a justice of the peace. Like most people, he carried emotional baggage, some of which stretched back to his childhood, and it impacted this “ideal” life. So much so that one day, he purchased a sloop, fitted it out as a pirate ship, hired a crew, and went on the account. His name was Major Stede Bonnet. But he was a landsman, one who possessed little knowledge of sailing – a fact that would earn him no respect from those who served under him. A near-fatal misstep eventually led him to cross paths with a much-feared pirate who was a legend in his own time – Blackbeard.

Within the pages of this book, Moss shines a light on Bonnet from birth to death. Although he provides no definitive answer as to why this gentleman went on the account – Bonnet took that answer to the grave – Moss does share several hypotheses on this question. Along the way, he allows readers to see “the man behind the mask,” so to speak. For example, while we might deem Bonnet the least successful of pirates, his actual ill-gotten booty would equate to between five and six million dollars today.

The book is divided into two parts: The Life of Stede Bonnet and Bonnet’s Trial and Its Aftermath. Moss consulted many primary documents, some of which he quotes at great length within these pages. Where scant information is known, he fills in gaps with particulars from Captain Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates. (Although a secondary source, much of the material on Bonnet can be confirmed from contemporary original sources.) In addition to the pertinent quotations that begin each chapter, Moss includes five appendices and actual transcripts of the trials. There is no index or a bibliography containing full citations of works consulted, although footnotes do identify sources.

The Life and Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet is an absorbing revelation of a pirate who often gets short shrift in histories of the golden age of piracy. It serves as an excellent review of this man and his life, as well a methodical examination of imprudent choices and the resultant consequences of them.




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Review of Baylus C. Brooks' Sailing East

Sailing East: West-Indian Pirates in Madagascar by Baylus C Brooks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One of the most quoted resources on pirate history is a book published in 1724, written by an unknown author who called himself Captain Charles Johnson. The problem with A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates is that it is actually a blend of fact and fiction. Brooks makes it a point “to forget this flagrantly fickle source and focus entirely on only primary documents.” (Acknowledgements) This time around, he turns his attention to Western pirates who ventured into the Indian Ocean to plunder the riches of Mughal India and become a thorn in the English East India Company’s side.

When Henry Every captures the Gang-i-Sawai in 1695, he demonstrates to his fellow pirates just how rich the takings are in Eastern waters. Economically, India is the most important country in the world. And the Mughal emperor uses his clout to demand recompense for Every’s attack. Since Every has returned to the Caribbean, that’s where he is sought and, slowly, England and her colonies attempt to make the West Indies an undesirable hunting ground for pirates, especially after Woodes Rogers arrives in the Bahamas to bring an end to the pirate republic at New Providence.

So the pirates turn their attention to the East. This is where Brooks begins “the tale of the last West Indian pirates who, cornered by social progress, drawn by legend, and such gilded fantasies of the last generation of buccaneers, sailed east for Madagascar.” (23) This examination of these pirates begins and ends with Olivier LeVasseur, better known as la Buse or the Buzzard. The intervening chapters discuss the capture of the British East India Company’s Cassandra, captained by James Macrae; plundering the Indian ports of Bombay, Goa, and Cochin; Edward Congdon; the capture of the Nossa Senhora do Cabo and her passenger, the Viceroy of Goa; an anti-piracy squadron; and Richard Taylor, a pirate who eventually seeks a pardon and employment from the Spanish.

The hallmark of Brooks’ investigations is that he relies only on primary documents to tell the pirates’ stories, and he vets these sources to determine their reliability, a process he shares as the tales unfold. Readers meet many pirates – including Thomas Cocklyn, Howell Davis, Jasper Seager, and Edward England – but this is far more than just a pirate history. Interwoven throughout the narrative are discussions on connected topics, such as captives Captain William Snelgrave and Richard Lasinby, Jacobitism and Stuart Anti-government Conservatism, Johnson’s Edward England versus the real Edward England, and Edward Congdon versus Christopher Condent. Interspersed throughout the book are maps, illustrations from documents, and pictures. Footnotes are included instead of endnotes, as are a spreadsheet showing the ships seized by LeVasseur, Cocklyn, and Davis while Snelgrave was a prisoner, and See references identifying where topics are covered in greater detail. Aside from a twenty-two-page index, there are also seven appendices. These are: A list of ships allegedly taken by pirates on the African Coast in spring-summer 1719; The London Journal, 17 February 1722; Snelgrave Letter – 30 April 1719; Snelgrave Letter – 1 August 1719; Snelgrave Deposition – 20 January 1721; Three Lasinby Narratives – March 1722; and Detail of HMS Phoenix Log Entries 22 February – 24 April 1718.

Sailing East is an invaluable and illuminating tool for people seeking primary documentation on pirate history. Its focus on western pirates in the waters around Africa and the Indian Ocean is a refreshing departure from the normal fare of Caribbean piracy.




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Review of Baylus C. Brooks' Dictionary of Pyrate Biography

Dictionary of Pyrate Biography 1713-1720 by Baylus C Brooks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Over the years, a number of biographical dictionaries have been published that focus on pirates, or pirates and subjects of peripheral interest. The primary time period of these books focuses on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This volume further narrows this span to the most prolific period of pirate history, known as the golden age of piracy. What sets Dictionary of Pyrate Biography apart from all other similar volumes is its content, making it both unique and vital to anyone seeking quality information on these sea marauders.

Perhaps, Brooks says it best: “This book is an attempt to retell the stories of each pirate, but only from the actual primary source records available.” (2) As he explains, one of the go-to resources that researchers often consult and quote is the 1724 edition of Captain Johnson’s A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates. Relying on this book isn’t the best documentary evidence because the true identity of the author is unknown; the chapters are a blend of fact and fiction; and it’s a secondary resource that fails to identify where the author secured his information. To provide historians, researchers, and pirate aficionados with a resource that is more accurate and provides citations for the quoted documents, Brooks compiled this collection. He began with the list of 209 pirates who took advantage of the King’s pardon in 1718 and surrendered to Captain Vincent Pearse. From there, he expanded the contents through his own research and with the help of other experts.

A number of entries consist only of the fact that they gave themselves up to Pearse. Many entries provide additional details about individual pirates. What these are not are cohesive, seamlessly interwoven narratives of each pirate. Instead, they begin with a brief paragraph that includes known biographical details – such as birthplace and date, piratical career, and, if captured, what became of the person – after which are quotations from contemporary documents pertaining to the individual. Where feasible, these are quoted in full. It is up to the reader to sift through and decipher the provided information, and then do further research to fill in the gaps. The length of each entry depends on the person and what is known about him or her. It can be as short as a single sentence or extend from a few paragraphs to several pages.

While the majority of individuals in this dictionary, which is arranged alphabetically by last name, are pirates, readers will also find entries on pirate hunters, naval personnel, victims, merchants, captives, and governors. Most are men, but there are a few women. The inclusion of a handful of personages is unclear, since their connections to pirates are murky at best. (Examples of these are Colonel Daniel Axtell, who is connected with regicide, and Dr. William Axtell, who petitioned to rebuild Port Royal after it was destroyed twice.) Many names will be unfamiliar to readers, but others are quite well-known: Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonny, Colonel William Rhett, Governor Alexander Spotswood, Captain William Snelgrave, and Edward Thache to name a few. (One name that is absent is Governor Woodes Rogers, but Brooks assures me that this oversight will be corrected in the second edition.)

There are a few drawbacks to accessing the valuable information contained in this book. Variant spellings are only listed with the main entry for the pirate. For example, the user has to know that documentation for Blackbeard will only be found under Edward Thache. There are no see references to this entry if you look under Blackbeard, Theach, Teach, or Thatch. Although the appendix contains a list of those pirates who surrendered to Captain Pearse, there is no master index or table of contents and no list of pirates who served under specific captains. For example, if you’re looking for all the pirates connected to Stede Bonnet, you need to know their names ahead of time or page through the entire book in hopes of finding them.

Testimonies are included with some entries. These are invaluable, but they aren’t easy to read because of the ink color chosen to differentiate between Query and Response. The questions are in black, but the answers are in light gray, which is difficult to see, let alone read.

On the other hand, there are advantages to this book beyond the primary documents. Brooks includes maps, photographs of actual sources, pictures, and family trees throughout the book. Among these are examples of Round Robins, a way of signing a paper without any one name being higher than another. Everything is footnoted on each page, so readers readily know where the material comes from. Another notable feature is the inclusion of a few “unknown pirate” entries; their deeds are known, but their names have been lost to history.

“Treasure” is a word intricately associated with piracy, and this volume is indeed a treasure as invaluable as any the sea marauders acquired during the golden age. It provides at one’s fingertips a wealth of knowledge that will save countless precious hours of research, which may, in turn, unearth even more material that will be included in future editions of this work. The Dictionary of Pyrate Biography belongs in every collection where the truth about pirates and their deeds is highly sought and prized.




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Review of MaryLu Tyndall's Timeless Treasure

Timeless Treasure by MaryLu Tyndall

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Her family has long been cursed. Her father is the latest to be incarcerated, but he abandoned her when she was six months old and now that her mother has passed, Lexie Cain is alone, penniless, and homeless. Her mother’s legacy – a gold coin and 300-year-old letters signed by Stede Bonnet – offers her a slim hope. According to her mother, the pirate is a distant relative and pirates buried their treasure, didn’t they? With no other options open to her, Lexie heads to Charleston, South Carolina, hoping the etchings on the coin and clues in the letters will lead her to the trove.

Although his beloved son died in 1712 and four years have passed, Stede Bonnet is still haunted and tormented by the loss. He has a wife, other children, wealth, and a good reputation, but Barbados is more a prison than a home. His only saving grace is the love of his life, Melody Rogers, but she is not his wife and must now accompany her father to Charles Town where he will endeavor to save the souls of the pirates and other scoundrels living there. Stede’s only option is to leave his life behind and go on the account. Perhaps plundering will gain him a new fortune on which he and Melody can live one day soon. To that end, he builds a pirate ship, hires a crew, and sets sail. But he is a soldier, not a sailor, and gaining the crew’s respect proves a difficult and perilous task.

Barret Johnson, a handsome history professor at Charleston Southern University, feels truly blessed. He has a family, comes from money, has a job, and is working on a new book about Stede Bonnet that might garner him an award that will allow him to continue his research on South Carolina pirates. The woman with a tattoo who barges into his office irritates him. He doesn’t believe a word Lexie says, but if there’s even a slim chance that the letter she shows him is authentic, he must pursue this new avenue of research.

Lexie thinks Barret is arrogant and the less contact she has with him, the better – but she needs his help to understand her ancestor’s writings. No one else knows as much as he does about Bonnet, but Barret is not the only one interested in the letters. Someone is stalking her. Then someone breaks into her apartment. Barret comes to her rescue, and the more time he’s with her, the more of an enigma she becomes. She has so little, but goes out of her way to help others even less fortunate than herself. He’s determined to protect her, even when her stalker proves that he is willing to do anything and harm anyone, especially those closest to her, to get the letters and the coin.

This inspirational romance will captivate readers with its two parallel love stories. One takes place in present-day Charleston, the other in the past. The outcomes differ, but Tyndall deftly contrasts the differences between those who have and those who have not. She does an excellent job portraying Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet, weaving a plausible tale that fills in the blanks that history has left of their association. Bonnet may be an ineffective pirate and not necessarily likeable, but readers will sympathize with his predicament. Lexie’s and Barret’s emotional struggles pull at the heartstrings in a deftly woven love story that will become a cherished favorite.



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Review of Clifford Jackman's The Braver Thing

The Braver Thing by Clifford Jackman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Obed Coffin arrives in New Providence in the Bahamas on 21 April 1721. Although a Quaker with a wife and child, he has nowhere else to go. He is a seaman, carpenter, and helmsman, but only one ship seeks enlistments – a vessel of pirates, or so rumors go. The perfect place for the damned. But how can the crew trust a sober man?

He once sailed with Blackbeard, but took the king’s pardon. Now, James Kavanagh (also known as the Taoisach) has purchased the governor’s ship and is fitting it out for a long voyage. The destination is secret, but the scurvy men who vie for a place among the crew have a past that suggests this voyage will not be conducting normal trade.

Among those lucky, or perhaps unlucky, enough to gain a berth are an uneasy mix. Tom Apollo serves as first mate, but his constant companion, a thin rattan, garners few friends. He uses it not only on himself, but those not quick enough to heed his commands. Bradford Scudder once sailed with Sam Bellamy. He’s a friend of everyone, but the only true friend that Billy Quantrill has. John O’Brien and Robert Dickens both sailed with Charles Vane, so neither is pleased to find the pirate-turned-pirate hunter Benjamin Hornigold aboard, the man they hold responsible for Vane’s hanging. Then there’s Israel Hands, who also sailed with Blackbeard and now serves as Kavanagh’s enforcer.

From the Caribbean to Africa to Madagascar and the Indian Ocean to the Dutch East Indies, these men embark on a two-year voyage from which not all will return. Danger and intrigue lurk within and without. They amass a great hoard of treasure, which eventually turns the hunters into the hunted.

Readers familiar with the golden age of piracy will recognize many of the names and places mentioned in this gripping maelstrom of pirate adventure. Jackman’s knowledge of the time period, the history, and the psyche of these men are so intricately intertwined that readers are transported back in time to experience firsthand just how perilous going on the account could be. Throughout this fictional journey, he keeps within the bounds of history, straying only where facts cease to exist, such as concerns Benjamin Hornigold and what became of him after he disappears from the historical record.

The Braver Thing is one of the best novels to portray pirates in recent years. But, from the reader’s perspective, which is braver: delving into the midst of men bent on a Merry Life where no one trusts anyone, or resisting the allure and never taking the dare?




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Review of Connie Kelleher's The Alliance of Pirates

The Alliance of Pirates: Ireland and Atlantic piracy in the early seventeenth century by Connie Kelleher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A “Nursery and Storehouse of Pirates.” Sir Henry Mainwaring described Ireland as such in 1618. He certainly knew whereof he wrote, for having once been a pirate, he was intimately acquainted with the illicit goings-on there, especially in southwest Munster. Differentiating between privateering and piracy was difficult during this time, and the latter was intricately woven into the fabric of daily living in the region. What gave rise to Mainwaring’s comparison of Ireland to a breeding ground came about when King James I of England revoked all letters of marque and delved into government corruption within the admiralty. This drove many Englishmen to seek safer ports of call and where better than Munster and its remote coastline?

Using a chronological format and a multi-pronged approach, Kelleher shines a light on an oft-ignored period in piratical history and the overlooked aspect of a key component, the symbiotic relationship between land and sea. What differentiates piracy here is that rather than individuals preying on vulnerable ships, these pirates banded together to create an alliance that benefited all. Kelleher begins her examination looking at what came before and how this alliance formed. From there, she explores the alliance itself, government corruption, places the pirates frequented and what traces of their presence have been found, piracy as a business, the social world in which pirates lived (particularly on land), and the suppression of this marauding. The last chapter looks at not only the decline of piracy in Ireland, but also how it changed. That transformation includes both locally and globally, for the knowledge of English pirates, shared with the marauders of North Africa, allowed Barbary corsairs to expand their prowling field to include Iceland and Ireland. The most notable in the latter was the sacking of Baltimore in 1631.

The alliance formed into a cohesive unit by 1608, although many members had been marauding prior to that year. They chose Munster as their headquarters because they knew the region and people willing to help them or at least turn a blind eye to their activities. Among the clans that played significant roles were O’Sullivan Beara, O’Driscoll, and O’Mahoney. Most names mentioned aren’t familiar to readers, but key individuals discussed include Admiral Richard Bishop, Peter Easton, John Ward, Grace O’Malley, Henry Mainwaring, William Hull of Leamcon, and Thomas Crooke. Equally noteworthy are the bases that are discussed, for although the alliance was based in Munster, it also had ties to Newfoundland (Canada) and Mamora (Barbary Coast).

The result is a well-rounded and deftly presented look at a successful pirate alliance. Kelleher presents her research in a logical and easily understood fashion for lay readers and academics alike. To further enhance the experience, she includes a glossary, notes, bibliography, and index. Many pages contain full-color pictures or maps. The quality of the volume is reminiscent of a coffee table book, even though its dimensions are of normal size.

Anyone drawn to the book by its title goes away with a far better understanding of how, where, and why Ireland was a nursery for pirates. The Alliance of Pirates is an invaluable and welcome addition to piratical history.




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Review of Jamie Goodall's Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay

Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars by Jamie L. H. Goodall

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Sometimes people turn to piracy strictly because they want easy money. Other times they are driven to piracy. The latter is what happened to the first documented pirate of the Chesapeake Bay, a man named William Claiborne. His felonious activities occurred during the 1630s and are discussed in the introduction to Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay. Contrary to what this title suggests, Goodall describes her book as “a collection of stories that follow some of the Chesapeake’s most notorious pirates and valiant privateers and the local residents, merchants and government officials who aided, abetted and sometimes captured them.” (23) Her goals in bringing these individuals together in a single volume are to (a) identify who took part in these piratical acts and what role did they play; (b) locate where the nefarious exploits occurred; (c) explain why the Chesapeake Bay was both a haven and a target of piracy; and (d) identify what caused the depredations in this 200-mile region that extends from Havre de Grace, Maryland to Virginia Beach, Virginia to be suppressed. Of course, this supposes that all the depredations described within are acts of piracy. In actuality, they are not.

To achieve these objectives, she divides the book into five time periods: colonial (1630-1750), the Revolutionary War (1754-1783), the War of 1812 (1805-1815), the Civil War (1860-1865), and the Oyster Wars (1865-1959). (The latter is really about poaching, rather than piracy, although contemporary newspapers referred to those involved as “pirates.”) The majority of people mentioned will be unknown to most readers: Richard Ingle, Joseph Wheland Jr., George Little, John Yates Beall, and William Frank Whitehouse, among many others. A few – Lionel Delawafer (better known as Lionel Wafer, the pirate surgeon), William Kidd, Sam Bellamy, and Thomas Boyle, for example – are often discussed in books about pirates and privateers. Readers will also find a timeline of major conflicts, maps, pictures, glossary, notes, bibliography, and index.

This is an interesting summary of piratical and privateering activity in a vital, but often overlooked, region that introduces readers to individuals rarely discussed in other maritime history books. That said, some missteps call into question this historian’s research. For example, on page 36, the vivid description of a body gibbeted in May 1699 in the Thames River is identified as being that of Captain Kidd. Four pages later, the text reads, “On May 23, 1701, Kidd ultimately met his fate at the end of the hangman’s noose.” (In 1699, Kidd was in American colonial waters trying to clear his name after sailing the Quedah Merchant to the West Indies.) On page 45, Sam Bellamy’s first victim is identified as the Whidah. He had already captured at least two vessels the previous year after going on the account. In fact, when he captured the Whidah, he was aboard the Sultana, which he had taken in December 1716. Nor did the pirates run Whidah aground, as stated on page 47. A severe nor’easter drove her ashore. The final paragraph states: “Sam Bellamy and his few surviving crewmembers were imprisoned, condemned and executed for piracy. They met their makers at the end of the hangman’s noose.” While several members of Bellamy’s crew were hanged, Bellamy was not one of them and they weren’t aboard Whidah at the time that she sank. He died in the shipwreck. Only two men survived Whidah’s sinking; Thomas Davis was acquitted while John Julian was sold into slavery.




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Review of Hunting the Last Great Pirate by Michael Ford

Hunting the Last Great Pirate: Benito de Soto and the Rape of the Morning Star by Michael Edward Ashton Ford

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The day pirates attacked the Morning Star was the start of a horrific and nearly fatal experience for most of the passengers and crew of this barque, but like all stories it begins long before 19 February 1828. Although pirates had plagued British shipping for most of the decade, the Royal Navy lacked sufficient resources to protect commercial ventures and suppress piracy. One safeguard was to sail in a convoy protected by a warship, yet even this did not guarantee a merchantman reached port. The vessel set sail only to vanish. All those left behind knew was that she never arrived at her destination. Such was the fate of the packet ship Topaz. Evidence suggests that she fell victim to pirates rather than being lost because of weather or a lack of seaworthiness. Unlike her, Morning Star limped into port and word spread.

The pirates of this generation were mostly of Spanish or Portuguese descent and many came from western colonies. Their motto seemed to follow the adage, “Dead men tell no tales.” Benito de Soto certainly heeded that advice. He, like many pirates, came from a murky background. Whether childhood friends or fellow pirates, he and Nicholas Fernandez banded together to steal a schooner and went on the account in 1824. Since Commodore David Porter and his American naval squadron were hunting down pirates in the Caribbean, de Soto and his men sailed to richer waters, which led them to cross paths with Morning Star. The barque – built by Quakers and captained by a man of that religion – was the ideal target for de Soto. She carried an enticing cargo. Her sluggishness slowed down the convoy until the escort ship abandoned her to protect the rest of the ships. Most importantly, not a single cannon guarded her decks or the fifty-three men, women, and children on board.

What made this pillaging and the brutalities the passengers and crew endured stand out from similar attacks was that, although the pirates sealed them belowdecks and set the ship on fire, one woman was determined not to die. This volume provides a vivid account of what happened that fateful day, as well as how these two ships crossed paths. The book also includes a selected bibliography, an index, and a center section of black-and-white pictures. Some chapters include a few source notes for the quotations, yet other information that is presented isn’t footnoted. For example, the author mentions Jean Laffite and possible ties that de Soto and Fernandez may have had with Laffite, but no historical references are provided to support these facts, which differ from what historians have uncovered in recent years.

But Hunting the Last Great Pirate is more than just the story of a deadly encounter with pirates. Ford provides the backdrop of world events at the time, as well as background on the ships and people involved, including the victims, the pirates, and those whose lives and decisions impacted either group. While the criminals were captured, prosecuting de Soto and his men proved far more complicated than anyone expected or desired. Through quotes from contemporary documents and testimonies from some of the pirates, Ford recounts the events in chronological sequence and includes an eyewitness account of what unfolded as the convoy parted ways with Morning Star. He adeptly shares how that abandonment impacted the prosecution and why some officials strove to cover up the scandal. Readers seeking a thorough and surprising account of this incident will discover that this book meets those criteria. In the process, they will come away with a far better understanding of what happened and why.




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Review of Ian Friel's Britain and the Ocean Road

Britain and the Ocean Road: Shipwrecks and People, 1297-1825 by Ian Friel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


If you seek information about shipwrecks, this book isn’t for you. If your interest lies in the victims and survivors of such wrecks, you’re likely to find more information in other volumes. If, however, you want a fascinating and outside-the-norm presentation of British maritime history, Britain and the Ocean Road may prove the perfect cup of tea. Presented in a chronological sequence, beginning in 1297 and ending in 1825, this first in a two-volume set explores that history using a particular shipwreck of a specific period as a facet of the development of the country’s dominance of the sea. Yet it’s not just a tale about ships and oceans; it’s also the story of England through the centuries, as well as her place on the world stage. Nor does it omit the people who played various roles in that history. During the voyage, readers discover tidbits about the oceans, weather, trade, naval warfare, and merchant shipping.

The first chapter, “Wine, Herrings and Blood,” discusses medieval seafaring, which was a combination of naval, merchant, and piratical shipping. It explores the rise of the Cinque ports, as well as the Anglo-French war during King Edward I’s reign that culminated in the destruction of the St Cross and twenty-two vessels from Great Yarmouth in 1297.

“Flimsy Cells” examines ships and pilgrims making their way to and from the Holy Land in 1446. Little is known about the men who died or the Cog Anne, one of the few ships to sail directly to the Mediterranean, and her final voyage. This necessitates the use of other firsthand accounts to recount what pilgrims endured on their inbound and outbound journeys during the Middle Ages.

The story of Henry VII’s royal warship Regent and the origins of the Royal Navy are the focus of chapter three, “Like a Volcano.” She was one of the earliest vessels built specifically to wage war at sea, and her size necessitated a new shipyard that eventually became the Portsmouth Naval Base. The chapter is principally about the development and technological advancements during a period when sailors, soldiers, and gunners comprised the crew of a warship. Life at sea, conditions aboard ship, and wages earned are also discussed, as is the Regent’s demise during the Battle of St. Mathieu in 1512.

“Trade, Not War” tells the story of the expansion of British commercial shipping beyond the Atlantic. The pride of the infant East India Company (EIC), Trade’s Increase, was the largest merchantman when she was launched in 1609. Five years later, she was gone, but it was merely the last in a series of stumbles that began on that day. Her birth and loss serve as the backdrop for exploring the rise of London as the dominant port in foreign trade, the origins and early years of various trade companies, and what it was like to be a sailor serving aboard an EIC ship.

The latter half of the seventeenth century is the age of buccaneers and chapter five uses “The Pirates of the Resolutions” to delve into piracy in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

“Line of Battle” is the focus of chapter six, which uses the 74-gun Berwick to discuss the similarities and differences between the Royal Navy and France’s Revolutionary navy between 1795 and 1805. The reason this particular ship stands out is because she began life as a British warship, but was captured in 1795 and taken into the French navy, only to be retaken at Trafalgar a decade later.

Chapter seven relates the story of “The Middle Passage” through the last voyage of the slave ship Eliza in 1806. With her colonies, England was a significant player in the selling of slaves, but Friel also shows that some Africans played complicit roles in these transactions. This chapter covers the voyages between Africa and the Caribbean, Liverpool’s rise as a center for the trade, conditions aboard the ships, Olaudah Equiano and John Newton, the abolition of the slave trade, and the Royal Navy’s role in suppressing slavery.

The final chapter, “‘In the very silence there is a deadness’,” recounts the story of HMS Fury. The difference between her voyage, which takes place in 1825, and the better-known Franklin Expedition two decades later, is that Captain William Parry and all but two of his men made it home. History has forgotten both him and the Fury while remembering the disappearance of Franklin’s, even though both dared to explore the Arctic’s unforgiving conditions in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage.

Throughout the book, Friel provides “see” references so readers know where certain information is discussed in greater detail or where pictures can be found. He includes maps, engravings, artwork, photographs, and diagrams. Nautical terms are described within the text, allowing readers to understand without having to search for a glossary. Also provided are endnotes, an index, and a bibliography.

The author’s purpose in writing this book is to introduce lay readers to England, the British, and the maritime world in which they played significant roles over the course of centuries. This volume covers the Middle Ages through Britain’s climb to the pinnacle of maritime dominance. The second volume, slated for release in May 2021 and entitled Breaking Seas, Broken Ships, will cover the years 1854 through 2007. It will examine not only the decline of Britain’s control of the seas, but also how humans have impacted that environment.

While Friel uses shipwrecks as the focal point of each chapter, readers need to understand three things about the use of this word. Here, “shipwreck” simply means a ship that is lost. Second, the known information about the individual vessels may be scant. Third, few people will be familiar with these ships. While each chapter teaches facets of Britain’s maritime history, often including tidbits rarely addressed in more thorough accounts of the subject, the author succeeds to greater and lesser extents in providing a riveting maritime history while teaching readers about the people, ships, dangers, and environment in which this history has evolved. For example, chapter two suffers from an excess of repetition and, while the discussion on pilgrims and pilgrimages is interesting, it’s not until the final paragraph that readers understand the true significance of the topic’s inclusion in this book: “English ships would not transport large numbers of passengers again until the seventeenth century, with the exception of soldiers carried for military campaigns.” (39) Chapter three provides the best demonstration of how shipwrecks serve as a device to discuss a grander topic under a unifying theme. Of all the chapters, seven provides the most information about the ship highlighted in the chapter title, although modern thoughts and opinions infiltrate the historical recounting. Chapter eight focuses specifically on the ship and the expedition, yet digresses into a discussion on the contact with and treatment of the Inuits.

Of the eight chapters included in the book, chapter five is perhaps the weakest. Much of the information provided here comes from the testimonies of seven pirates. Assumptions more than historical facts are provided to readers, and not all of the assumptions are correct. The reason that the captured pirates were transported to London in 1684 had nothing to do with authorities feeling that that city was the better place to hold their trial. The law said that all pirates had to be transported to London to face an admiralty court, and admiralty courts weren’t established in the colonies until 1701. Nor was it surprising for pirates to elude the hangman’s noose; in fact, prior to Henry Every’s capture of the Gang-i-Saway in 1695, captured pirates were rarely executed. The pirates in this chapter seem to acquire items through purchase rather than pillaging, and while pirates found that slave ships made tempting targets, they were more inclined to convert them into pirate ships than sail in consort with slavers. This chapter, by recounting the tale of three ships named Resolution and her four captains and their crews, supposedly reflects common piracy during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. This may be true during the 1600s, but there are many other pirates and their ships, some of which became shipwrecks, that would be more reflective of the golden age. Also, there were decided differences between the buccaneers of the seventeenth century and the pirates of the eighteenth. As for the inclusion of information about modern-day pirates, that information belongs in the second volume rather than being included in this chapter.

Those readers who venture within the pages of this book will find it readable and, at times, engrossing. No prior knowledge of maritime history is needed, because Friel does a commendable job entwining the necessary background information with the maritime history. Britain and the Ocean Road is perfect for anyone seeking information on English history from less common perspectives. Along the way, don’t be surprised if you discover answers to questions that you’ve not uncovered solutions to in reading other maritime texts.




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