You gotta read it if you love “Black Sails”!!
The Republic of Pirates, Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down, started with some of the same history I already knew, but within 5 pages I was convinced that it had original material and was very well researched. It’s written by Colin Woodard and copywrited/published in 2007 by Houghton Mifflin.
More than just another history of the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean, this book takes you through the political upheaval that created many pirates of the Golden Age and the reasons they took to piracy. While all the well-known Captains (Pirate, Privateer and British Navy) are covered, so too are the unwilling captives with valuable skills, the ordinary merchants forced into piracy and those who supported it. Starting around the second chapter, you’re also introduced to the single man who would become known (famed) as the force that ended the Golden Age of Piracy,,,,,but this isn’t quite the whole story.
Finally, although the HBO Series “Black Sails” is totally current, many of its characters and themes could have been drawn directly from this book, because they are real, true to history and rarely seen in the Johnny Dep remakes. Slavery, forced labor, indentured servants, political refugees and outcast loggers don’t make for great Disney movies, but were certainly a reality for Pirates of the Golden Age.
If you’re interested in a great read with lots of facts, hit the link above and give it a try. I’ve reviewed a number of other sailing books you can find in this link and you should grad them for yourselves via my links if you find them helpful.
This the first post in a blog series about the Black Flag and Pirating that I’m going to do, should be fun reads along with the blogs about sailboats and adventure travel.
See you next time, pass it on-
Update- 25 November- Just totally finished this book, re-read various parts of the book to make sure I understood and wanted to put in this update. This book is permanently added to my Pirate Library, which is already pretty good. I had no idea of some of the facts of this book, which is why it’s simply a must read for most sailors who want to know more actual “facts” rather than fiction about the Golden Age of Piracy.
