The Last Pirate

A haunting and often hilarious memoir of growing up in 80s Miami as the son of Big Tony, a flawless model of the great American pot baron. To his fellow smugglers, Anthony Edward Dokoupil was the Old Man. He ran stateside operations for one of the largest marijuana rings of the twentieth century. In all they sold hundreds of thousands of pounds of marijuana, and Big Tony distributed at least fifty tons of it. To his son he was a rambling man who was also somehow a present father, a self-destructive addict who ruined everything but affection. Here Tony Dokoupil blends superb reportage with searing personal memories, presenting a probing chronicle of pot-smoking, drug-taking America from the perspective of the generation that grew up in the aftermath of the Great Stoned Age.

Was he New York City’s last pirate . . . or its first gangster? This is the true story of the bloodthirsty underworld legend who conquered Manhattan, dock by dock—for fans of Gangs of New York and Boardwalk Empire. “History at its best . . . I highly recommend this remarkable book.”—Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God Handsome and charismatic, Albert Hicks had long been known in the dive bars and gin joints of the Five Points, the most dangerous neighborhood in maritime Manhattan. For years, he operated out of the public eye, rambling from crime to crime, working on the water in ships, sleeping in the nickel-a-night flops, drinking in barrooms where rat-baiting and bear-baiting were great entertainments. His criminal career reached its peak in 1860, when he was hired, under an alias, as a hand on an oyster sloop. His plan was to rob the ship and flee, disappearing into the teeming streets of lower Manhattan, as he’d done numerous times before, eventually finding his way back to his nearsighted Irish immigrant wife (who, like him, had been disowned by her family) and their infant son. But the plan went awry—the ship was found listing and unmanned in the foggy straits of Coney Island—and the voyage that was to enrich him instead led to his last desperate flight. Long fascinated by gangster legends, Rich Cohen tells the story of this notorious underworld figure, from his humble origins to the wild, globe-crossing, bacchanalian crime spree that forged his ruthlessness and his reputation, to his ultimate incarnation as a demon who terrorized lower Manhattan, at a time when pirates anchored off 14th Street. Advance praise for The Last Pirate of New York “A remarkable work of scholarship about old New York, combined with a skillfully told, edge-of-your-seat adventure story—I could not put it down.”—Ian Frazier, author of Travels in Siberia “With its wise and erudite storytelling, Rich Cohen’s The Last Pirate of New York takes the reader on an exciting nonfiction narrative journey that transforms a grisly nineteenth-century murder into a shrewd portent of modern life. Totally unique, totally compelling, I enjoyed every page.”—Howard Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Gangland and American Lightning

A true, century-spanning saga of terror at sea, a dramatic trial, and a mystery at long last solved . . . In 1827 the Duke of Wellington—former Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and British Prime Minister—ordered the withdrawal of British soldiers from the island of Ceylon after years of bloody conflict there. English cargo vessels, including the unarmed English Quaker ship Morning Star, were dispatched to sail to Colombo to repatriate wounded British soldiers and a cargo of sealed crates containing captured treasure. By January 1828, Morning Star was anchored at Table Bay, Cape Town, before joining an armed British convoy of East Indiamen heading north. Heavily laden, she struggled to keep up with the ships ahead. But a heavily armed pirate ship and its master, the notorious Benito de Soto, were lying in wait off Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic to pick off stragglers from passing convoys. This book tells the full story of how Morning Star was easily overhauled by the pirate and stopped with cannon fire, the bloody events that followed, the long quest to hold de Soto to account—and the remarkable discovery that was made nearly a century later.

- This is the Second Edition of the of "The Last Filibusters" in English. "The Last Filibusters" is the only English translation of the Italian "Gli ultimi filibustieri" by Emilio Salgari. "The Last Filibusters" is the continuation and conclusions of the adventures of the band of characters introduced in "The Son of the Red Corsair."Emilio Salgari is an Italian writer of adventure and science fiction stories for readers of all ages young at heart. His books are regarded as classics and are still in print many years after their initial publication. They have been translated in several languages and, besides Italy, they are especially popular in the Spanish speaking world. A prolific writer, Salgari authored 80 novels and about 150 short stories. The faithful Mendoza, Buttafuoco, and the boisterous Don Barrejo reunite to save Neala, the half-sister of Enrico of Ventimiglia, the Italian gentleman disguised as a corsair who found her and brought her back to Europe in The Son of The Red Corsair. Neala has returned to the New World to be made Queen of Darien and take possession of the riches she inherited after the death of her grandfather, the Darien's Gran Cacique. But the Marquis of Montelimar, who had kept her prisoner pretending to be her tutor with the aim of getting his hands on the inheritance, kidnaps her soon after she arrives. Mendoza, Buttafuoco, and Barrejo will stop at nothing and join forces with the last Pirates of the Caribbean to rescue her in this action filled, and often humorous, adventure.

Considered the major source of information about piracy in the early 18th century, this fascinating history by the author of Robinson Crusoe profiles the deeds of Edward (Blackbeard) Teach, Captain Kidd, Anne Bonny, others.

In the years around 1492, Moishe, a Bar Mitzvah boy, leaves home to join a ship's crew, where he meets Aaron, the polyglot parrot who becomes his near-constant companion. But Inquisition Spain is a dangerous time to be Jewish and Moishe joins a band of hidden Jews trying to preserve some forbidden books. He falls in love with a young woman, Sarah; though they are separated by circumstance, Moishe's wanderings are motivated as much by their connection as by his quest for loot and freedom. When all Jews are expelled from Spain, Moishe travels to the Caribbean with the ambitious Christopher Columbus, a self-made man who loves his creator. Moishe eventually becomes a pirate and seeks revenge on the Spanish while seeking the ultimate booty: the Fountain of Youth. Bestseller. Winner of the 2017 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. 2016.

Rook Barkwater Lives In The Network Of Sewer-Chambers Beneath Undertown, The Bustling Main City Of The Edgeworld. He Dreams Of Becoming A Librarian Knight - One Of Those Sent Out To Explore The Mysteries Of Their World. Somewhere Out There Lie The Secrets Of The Past - Including The Lost Floating City Of Sanctaphrax - And, Maybe, Hope For A Future Free From The Fear Of Tyranny. When His Chance Comes, Rook Grabs It! Breaking All The Rules, He Sets Out On A Journey To The Free Glades And Beyond. His Luck And Determination Lead Him From One Peril To Another Until, Buried In The Heart Of The Deepwoods, Rook Encounters A Mysterious Character - The Last Sky Pirate - And Is Thrust Into A Bold Adventure That Dares To Challenge The Might Of The Dread Guardians Of The Night-