The Pirates Pocket-book

by Stuart Robertson

'It is with great concern that I must still acquaint your Lordships of the daily complaints I receive of piracies and robberies committed in these parts, insomuch that there is hardly one ship or vessel, coming in or going out of this island that is not plundered." (Sir Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica, June 1718) Sir Nicholas Lawes was writing to the British Government during the early 18th century, a time that later became known as the "golden age of piracy". In the following two centuries fictional works about pirates became increasingly popular, colouring the public perception of this terror of the seas into a romantic, swashbuckling anti-hero who forced prisoners to walk the plank and sought buried treasure where X marked the spot. And yet the reality was far more intriguing and terrible. Ruthless fighters, often horrifically violent, pirates were also outstanding sailors, cunning planners and democratic equal opportunists. Their articles, signed by all crew members (sometimes forcibly), shared the spoils fairly and demanded consideration to each other. Their treatment of prisoners, however, was another matter. In 'The Pirates Pocket-Book', the true savage story of the pirates comes to light through extracts taken from contemporary books, documents, news articles, witness accounts, and trial reports. From diaries, logbooks, letters and depositions comes the full fascinating take of a pirate"s life and death. The truth about wooden legs, parrots and the "jolly rodger", treasure maps, pirate attacks and infamous trials, is told through the vivid accounts of those who encountered the pirates personally, as victims, crew members or arresting officers.

Genres: History, Pirates, Nonfiction, Reference

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Iván Santaella · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro combina la explicación de los diversos aspectos de la vida de un pirata con la exposición de pequeñas biografías de los más famosos piratas y pequeñas historias para ejemplificar la vida que llevaban.

Bastante interesante, el problema es que le falta contextualización. Por ejemplo, nunca se acaba de explicar el porqué del aumento de la piratería entre 1705 y 1725.

No obstante, a mí me ha agradado bastante.

[Manolo González · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todo lo que se necesita saber sobre los piratas, se encuentra en esta obra. Excelente.

[Lucía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reseña aquí / Review here: https://labibliotecadelu.wordpress.co...

[Nathan Woll · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Conan The Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro, ademas de que ahora sé mucho más sobre los piratas me ha entretenido y emocionado bastante.

[Itzé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno pues que vida... El libro resume muy bien lo básico en la vida de un pirata común y cuenta varias historias sobre ellos que se consiguieron por relatos y juicios.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a birthday present a while ago from a university friend who knew I liked pirates, but I never got round to reading it till recently. I enjoyed it, and I think that if you are interested in finding out more about piratical history then this is an excellent introduction to it.

The writing from the author is clear and easy to understand, though because there are a lot of historical accounts within the book then it can be difficult to read in places, simply because of the older style of language used.

The book contains accounts of the lives of many of the most famous pirates, including "Black Bart" Roberts and Edward Teach (Blackbeard), and many explanations of various aspects of how life on a pirate ship could be amongst other things.

All in all, if you want to find out more about pirates, this is a good place to start, though I doubt it will be of much interest to those who are already familiar with that period of history, as it may be too general and concise in order to tell you things you don't already know.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for history buffs or just anyone who has an interest in the truth behind the piratical myths. Well researched and interesting, it uses primary sources to describe, not just the lifestyle of pirates, but the historical context that gave rise to them, and the lives of a few of the better known pirates of the day, including Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Black Bart.

As interesting as it is, the text can be a bit impenetrable. It takes the form of long quotes from the primary sources (newspaper accounts, journals, etc) interspersed with bits of commentary from the author. Predictably, the language in the quotes reflects the density of the day.

[Terry Cornell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the history of pirates. The editor makes comments on writings taken from actual accounts and experiences at the time. He also describes aspects of the typical pirates lifestyle.

[Cristina Calderero]

I really enjoyed this book. It contains a lot of information related to pirates on XVII-XVIII centuries: biographies, how this persons lived on sea or real documents about their crimes and executions.