Considered the major source of information about piracy in the early 18th century, this fascinating history by the author of Robinson Crusoe profiles the deeds of Edward (Blackbeard) Teach, Captain Kidd, Anne Bonny, others.

Investigating the fascination pirates hold over the popular imagination, Peter Earle takes the fable of ocean-going Robin Hoods sailing under the "banner of King Death" and contrasts it with the murderous reality of robbery, torture and death and the freedom of a short, violent life on the high seas. The Pirate Wars charts 250 years of piracy, from Cornwall to the Caribbean, from the 16th century to the hanging of the last pirate captain in Boston in 1835. Along the way, we meet characters like Captain Thomas Cocklyn, chosen as commander of his ship "on account of his brutality and ignorance," and Edward Teach, the notorious "Blackbeard," who felt of his crew "that if he did not now and then kill one of them they would forget who he was." Using material from British Admiralty records, this is an account of the Golden Age of pirates and of the men of the legitimate navies of the world charged with the task of finally bringing these cutthroats to justice.

The first volume devoted to literary pirates in the nineteenth century, this collection examines changes in the representation of the pirate from the beginning of the nineteenth century through the late Victorian period. Gone were the dangerous ruffians of the eighteenth-century novel and in their place emerged a set of brooding and lovable rogues, as exemplified by Byron's Corsair. As the contributors engage with acts of piracy by men and women in the literary marketplace as well as on the high seas, they show that both forms were foundational in the promotion and execution of Britain's imperial ambitions. Linking the pirate's development as a literary figure with the history of piracy and the making of the modern state tells us much about race, class, and evolving gender relationships. While individual chapters examine key texts like Treasure Island, Dickens's 1857 'mutiny' story in Household Words, and Peter Pan, the collection as a whole interrogates the growth of pirate myths and folklore throughout the nineteenth century and the depiction of their nautical heirs in contemporary literature and culture.

Historians of piracy examine piracy in the Caribbean and Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and East Asia, asking whether pirates were outlaws or counterculture social bandits. They demonstrate that pirate ships were often microcosms of democracy, and that crews of pirate vessels knew that majority rule, racial equality, and equitable division of spoils were crucial for their survival. The book includes bandw historical illustrations. Pennell teaches Middle Eastern history at the University of Melbourne. c. Book News Inc.

Skilfully uses this notorious episode to illuminate the nature and extent of piracy in the period.The pirate attack on the British brig Morning Star, en route from Ceylon to London, near Ascension Island in 1828 was one of the most shocking episodes of piracy in the nineteenth century. Although the captain and many members of the crew were murdered by the pirates led by the notorious Benito de Soto, some survived, escaped and sailed the ship back to Britain. This book, based on extensive original research in Britain, Spain and Brazil, retells the story of the Morning Star, provides much new detail and corrects errors present in the many contemporary accounts of the attack. It sets the attack in the wider context of piracy in the period, and discusses many issues which the episode highlights: how pirates' careers began and developed; how they were pursued and tried, often with difficulty; what became of their treasure; how stories of the attack and of the survivors were sensationalised; how the women passengers on the ship endured their ordeal at the hands of the pirates and then, back in Britain, had to endure potential loss of their reputations.s on the ship endured their ordeal at the hands of the pirates and then, back in Britain, had to endure potential loss of their reputations.s on the ship endured their ordeal at the hands of the pirates and then, back in Britain, had to endure potential loss of their reputations.s on the ship endured their ordeal at the hands of the pirates and then, back in Britain, had to endure potential loss of their reputations.