Das Piraten-Tagebuch

by Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin, Terry Breverton (Editor)

Durch Illustrationen und Hintergrundinformationen ergänzte Kurzversion des 1678 erschienenen Berichts über die Piraten und Freibeuter des 17. Jahrhunderts.

Genres: History, Pirates, Nonfiction, Adventure

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1678

About the author

Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (also spelled Esquemeling, Exquemeling, or Oexmelin) was a French writer best known as the author of one of the most important sourcebooks of 17th century piracy, first published in Dutch as De Americaensche Zee-Roovers, in Amsterdam, by Jan ten Hoorn, in 1678.

Born about 1645, it is likely that Exquemelin was a native of Harfleur, France, who on his return from buccaneering settled in Holland, possibly because he was a Huguenot. In 1666 he was engaged by the French West India Company and went to Tortuga, where he stayed for three years. There he enlisted with the buccaneers, in particular with the band of Henry Morgan, whose confidante he was, probably as a barber-surgeon, and remained with them until 1674. Shortly afterwards he returned to Europe and settled in Amsterdam where he qualified professionally as a surgeon, his name appearing on the 1679 register of the Dutch Surgeons' Guild. However, he was later once again in the Caribbean as his name appears on the muster-roll as a surgeon in the attack on Cartagena in 1697.

- Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Graham Oberland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to my wife during our honeymoon on a Caribbean cruise, we loved it and learned a ton!

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This profusely illustrated coffee-table style book does attempt to reproduce Alexander O. Exquemelin's experiences among 17th Century Caribbean pirates as a ship's surgeon. For those who do not know, Exquemelin's original book was written in Dutch, but was subsequently translated into French, Spanish and English. Each edition featured new material, usually slanted according to national politics of the day. This edition attempts to present what Exquemelin actually experienced. As an eyewitness to Henry Morgan's audacious raid on the city of Panama, Exquemelin's account has an authentic ring with a good many details that a ship surgeon would know about the pirates he tended.

I do wish the type size was much bigger. I find it difficult to read the text when surrounded by the large colorful illustrations. Though not an annotated text as such, the illustrations, cut lines and sidebars provide readers with a good deal of useful background information.

[LeAnn L Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexander Exquemelin was a surgeon/buccaneer aboard Captain Henry Morgan’s pirate ship. He later on, in 1678, published his detailed diary of the brutal happenings in the Pirates of the Caribbean war. This illustrated book is a clear look into the events.

*Warning* Back in a time where an innocent child was hung for stealing a slice of bread—the punishment for adult traitors will arouse revulsion to the reader.

[Stef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Loved every page of it. Have to get more books about pirates:)

[Mykael · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting. I enjoyed it greatly and learned a lot.