The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the… (utgåvan 2008)

Good overview of the pirates, mainly in the Bahamas pirate republic around 1720, but also including their operations in Africa, the Indian Ocean, etc. There wasn't a strong message other than a bunch of stories about individual actions, and it fell into "x captured y and then used it to capture z" over and over again, but it does convey the overall arc of piracy. I didn't realize how much corruption/influence the pirates had over governments in certain areas, and how fluid the pirate/privateer/merchant status was. It was interesting how multiple complete general amnesties were offered, somewhat effectively. I was already aware of how pirate ships were largely democratic/meritocratic, vs. outright oppression on naval and merchant vessels, but I didn't realize the life expectancy of a sailor on a slave ship was approximately the same per voyage as that of the cargo. ( )

Loved this book so much, almost packed the kids up and went sailing for a year to follow the pirates' history. Thoroughly researched, stunningly written as all of Woodard's books are, a joy to read. Felt like I was there with the pirates, and so did my middle school-aged sons. Outstanding! ( )

Amazingly detailed history of the golden age of pirates (early 1700s). A lot of names, places and dates, but you get the sense of what the era was like. ( )

I started out reading (and enjoying) this book but soon the repetition of meticulous detail (ship tonnages, how many cannons were on board, the number of sailors, types of cargo, etc.) had me skimming instead of reading, and I don't usually like to do that. Aside from being annoyed by meticulous details, I thought The Republic of Pirates was a well researched and informative book on the rise and fall of the Golden Age of Piracy.

Book explores a very busy time for pirates - 1700-1720+-. ( )