A History of Pirates: Blood and Thunder on the High Seas

This book focuses on the Pirates of the Caribbean during the near 50 year time span that made up the "Golden Age of Piracy". The content of the book is good, goes into detail, yet a tad too much. The Structure of the book is well done, but the chapters are something else. A topic will be introduced, talked about and then he will go on to ramble about this and that and then before the end of the chapter he returns to the original topic and then concludes it. Despite this, it is a well written book, but if your looking for "perfect" this isn't for you. Though the content seems to come from men like Daniel Defoe, he does have at least one aspect of his book that is original unlike past Pirate books I've read, where he goes on to talk about HOW the Piracy issue was solved, such as David Porter, father of the US Civil War Admiral David Porter, pretty much crushed the Pirates operating along the US coastal lines and the Caribbean.

Nigel Cawthorne brings a book to us about pirates which can be read by anyone and you don't have to be an historian to understand the book. It's laid out in plain terms and covers the era of piracy in the varied aspects of weaponry, ships, locales, and the pirates themselves. The book could have been a bit more thorough on weapons and ships but then the lay-person would lose interest with any more detail, I think. He covers pirates such as Calico Jack, Henry Morgan, Anne Bonny, Blackbeard, and Captain Kidd among others. The coverage is in depth enough to hold your interest but not bogged down with meaningless details that only an historian would care about (this coming from an historian). You'll learn some nifty trivia and dispel numerous movie myths about pirates like buried treasure and walking the plank to name two. Overall, great book for someone looking to pick up the basics on piracy history but not overbearing. My only complaint is I wish there were more on Blackbeard but then that's what biographies are for.

A rambling work at best. The author does indeed drift around at times, leaving a topic unfinished to explore other avenues before returning to the original topic. We, also, are not talking about much in the way of original material (much of it comes from Captain Charles Johnson, Alexandre Exquemelin, and recent authors like David Cordingly). However, there are redeeming qualities to the book. For one it is an entertaining read, the author uses a smooth style that makes for easy reading. The author covers a range of topics from ships, weapons and havens to the origins of and suppression of piracy during the Golden Age. There are numerous names mentioned, from the well known and notorious to the lesser know footnotes in history. The period covered spans from the early 1500s to the early 1800s, told for the most part from the English and French point of view. In short, a good book for an overview or brief reference (although I still recommend David Cordingly or Angus Konstam for broader, more polished coverage or pirates). P-)