Pirates And Privateers

Action-packed stories of pirates, treachery, and buried treasure have excited and fascinated readers ever since Treasure Island became an instant bestseller in 1883. But are these tales partly fact or totally fiction? What do we know about the real pirates of yesteryear? Who were they, and where did they come from? And what is the reality behind the myth? Pirates and Privateers delves into the real lives of the men and women whose brutal journeys of adventure have become legendary. It explores the true story behind those tempestuous times, and reveals the ruthless violence of notorious seadogs such as Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Henry Morgan, and the Barbarossa Brothers, plundering their way across the seven seas in search of riches and infamy.

Pirates and Privateers tells the fascinating story of the buccaneers who were the scourge of merchants in the 18th Century. It examines their lifestyle, looking at how the sinking of the Spanish treasure fleet in a storm off the coast of Florida led to a pirates gold rush; how the Kings Pardon was a desperate gamble which paid off and considers the role of individual island governors, such as Woodes Rogers in the Bahamas, in bringing piracy under control.The book also looks at how piracy has been a popular topic in print, plays, songs and now films, making thieves and murderers into swash-buckling heroes. It also considers the whole question of buried treasure and gives a lively account of many of the pirates who dominated the so-called Golden Age of Piracy.

North Carolina possesses one of the longest, most treacherous coastlines in the United States, and the waters off its shores have been the scene of some of the most dramatic episodes of piracy and sea warfare in the nation's history. Now, Lindley Butler brings this fascinating aspect of the state's maritime heritage vividly to life. He offers engaging biographical portraits of some of the most famous pirates, privateers, and naval raiders to ply the Carolina waters. Covering 150 years, from the golden age of piracy in the 1700s to the extraordinary transformation of naval warfare ushered in by the Civil War, Butler sketches the lives of eight intriguing characters: the pirate Blackbeard and his contemporary Stede Bonnet; privateer Otway Burns and naval raider Johnston Blakeley; and Confederate raiders James Cooke, John Maffitt, John Taylor Wood, and James Waddell. Penetrating the myths that have surrounded these legendary figures, he uncovers the compelling true stories of their lives and adventures.

Angry over his family’s recent move and current enforced holiday in Halifax, twelve-year-old Laz Berenger rebels against a guided tour of the Citadel and sets out to explore on his own. In one dark tunnel, his St. Christopher medal burns suddenly hot. There’s a strange smell, and Laz blacks out. When he wakes up, everything happens at once. A sword is put to his throat. Men who look like extras from Pirates of the Caribbean hand him over to a ship’s captain who strips him and takes his medal. He is declared a French spy. Laz realizes, to his horror, that it is 1745 and he is trapped in time. These English colonists, still loyal to King George, are at war with the French. To earn his freedom, Laz must promise to spy on the French at the fortification of Louisbourg. But once in Louisbourg, Laz earns a job as runner to the kind Commander Morpain and learns to love both the man and the town. How will Laz find a way to betray the inhabitants of Louisbourg? How else can he hope to earn back his St. Christopher medal, which is surely his key to returning to his own time? The award-winning author of The Hill and Graffiti Knight has written an enthralling, swash-buckling time-slip adventure for middle-grade readers centered on a fascinating period in North American history.

Yes, there really were Canadian pirates and they didn't always say â€please,' ‘thank you,' and ‘excuse me,' either.Discover the stories of Peter Easton, Bartholomew â€Black Bart†Roberts, Simeon Perkins, Bill Johnston, the Liverpool Packet and more.

"Probably the most important privateering center of the era in North America, and possibly of the British Empire, bustling Colonial New York serves as a microcosm for this scholarly study of the decline of piracy and the enforcement of legality in privateering. ... In the 1690s, the city of New York was a flourishing pirate center. By the mid-[18th-]century, however, only a few of its privateersmen drifted into the dangerous practices of the earlier period. Pirates gave way before governmental control or retired or died. ... History and politics play important roles in this economic examination of the port. Legal aspects of the maritime depredation are thoroughly treated, as pirates and privateersmen elbow merchants and government officials in their quest for loot." -- Book jacket.

At the beginning of the 17th century, pirates infested the Caribbean waters, harassing the major European powers, but they were eventually driven from the region. Some pirates took refuge in Madagascar, where they attempted to capture the lucrative cargo carried by vessels on the shipping route of the European East India Companies. At the end of the 18th century, in order to weaken British influence in the Indian Ocean, France hired privateers to attack commercial ships of the British East India Company. This was an alternative to open warfare, and heralded the privateers' era. Denis Piat recounts the history of the pirates and privateers in the Indian Ocean, especially in Mauritius, from the pirates' arrival in the region to the wrecked ships still to be found today in deep water, and provides portraits of the most famous privateers among them.

For thousands of years pirates, privateers, and seafaring raiders have terrorized the ocean voyager and coastal inhabitant, plundering ship and shore with impunity. From the victim's point of view, these attackers were not the rebellious, romantic rulers of Neptune's realm, but savage beasts to be eradicated, and those who went to sea to stop them were heroes. Engaging and meticulously detailed, Pirate Hunting chronicles the fight against these plunderers from ancient times to the present and illustrates the array of tactics and strategies that individuals and governments have employed to secure the seas. Benerson Little lends further dimension to this unending battle by including the history of piracy and privateering, ranging from the Mycenaean rovers to the modern pirates of Somalia. He also introduces associated naval warfare; maritime commerce and transportation; the development of speed under oar, sail, and steam; and the evolution of weaponry. More than just a vivid account of the war that seafarers and pirates have waged, Pirate Hunting is invaluable reading in a world where acts of piracy are once more a significant threat to maritime commerce and voyagers. It will appeal to readers interested in the history of piracy, anti-piracy operations, and maritime, naval, and military history worldwide.