When most of us think of pirates, we tend to think of the subject in a somewhat romantic fashion of daring swashbucklers doing battle against the Royal Navy in large, heavily armed ships. These would be dueling it out in glorious sea battles that culminate in the ships going side by side with men swinging onto the other decks, guns blazing and clashing in cutlass duels. Much of the success of the recent 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies have played on this perception, much to the delight of the film makers as the profits have come pouring in.

Most of it is dead wrong and has been contrived over the years.

We can thank illustrator Howard Pyle who fabricated much of what we conceive as a pirate in his works from the mid-late 1880s into the very early 1900. Pirate did not wear head scarves, or bandoliers. Nor did they wear riding boots and dress like royalty. Were you to see a pirate captain or any of his crew in a normal sea side town, you would not be able to distinguish them from the run of the mill sailor. No black eye patches with a skull and crossbones on it nor any flowing clothing. Sorry.

Piracy had its heyday from roughly 1715 to 1724. Prior to that, many of these men were buccaneers, under charter from one nation or another, and attacking Spanish ships. Once the War of  Spanish Succession was over, these men were out of work, and some turned to piracy. The life expectancy of a pirate was short. About 2 years on the average with some lasting as long as four. Little lenience was given to these men and death was nearly always the result in what were brief and one-sided trials.

Yet a pirate crew was remarkably democratic. Crews were not mistreated by their captains or officers as was the norm. Crews got an equal share in the loot and the captains were not greedy. It was a very egalitarian life style despite its brevity and this was quite a draw to some to join these crews. Most pirate crewmen were recruited on the spot when a merchant ship was captured. Some went openly, while some were coerced into joining.

There were a few safe havens for pirates, but as those closed down, thanks to growing enforcement on the seas, piracy just naturally faded away. Of course, we still have piracy as one reads about off the coast of Somalia and in the Indonesian isles, but that is somewhat different from the days of sail, though no less despicable. Due to the nature of their work, pirates were 'live for today' sorts of people who had most of the normal social restraints removed. They could be and often were quite destructive, sadistic and cruel. This as much as anything else resulted in their seemingly harsh treatment when caught.

In this book on the 'golden age' of pirates, author Angus Konstam follows the usual themes of this series with an introduction, a look at how things were organized, how crew were enlisted, what they wore and used as weapons, and how they functioned in battle. There is also a section on some of the more well known pirates like Blackbeard and some who were hung for piracy as innocent men, such as Captain Kidd.  This is all enhanced by illustrations from the time, fanciful though many were, and the superb illustrations of Giuseppe Rava, whose work we have seen many times in other books

It is a book that should be on the shelf of any serious historian or those who have an interest in this era. One I enjoyed reading and can highly recommend to you.

October 2011

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