A General History of the Pyrates

I bought this book for myself having stumbled across it at the bookstore. Started reading it and loved it. I have bought two more, one for a friend who was turning 40, (a pirate looks at 40), and one for my Dad, (who at one time was a pirate looks at 40). I recommend the book!

If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pyrates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional. The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works. I like this edition, the print being black and comfortably sized and attractive.

If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates in their heyday then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, presumably to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about or by him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and this A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional. A possible explanation for why this book was published under that name is that at the time there was a hack playwright named Charles Johnson who is suspected of having written Avery's play and possibly also his book The King of The Pirates. If so, the name Captain Charles Johnson here would have been to mock this author and subvert any such pretence. The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified A General History of the Pyrates as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works. In 1988 a couple of so-called scholars dismissed Moore's attribution on the grounds that the style was not the same as in The Pirate Gow or The King Of Pirates, both of which have been attributed to Defoe. However neither of these books are alike in style (The Pirate Gow is at least good journalism) and certainly the King of Pirates doesn't resemble Defoe's style or his character, while this one does. Moore was a fan and an expert and he has to be right. I like this edition, the print being black and comfortably sized and attractive.

This is amost interesting book since the first chapter cocerns the pirate Henry Avery so I did not get past the first chapter since my name is Henry Avery.