almeno 4 stelle andrebbero a Defoe, qui non tanto romanziere ma comunque ottimo narratore capace di trasformare resoconti di processi e racconti di testimoni oculari rielaborandole in maniera assolutamente interessante, ma il voto ridotto si deve al fatto che nell'edizione italiana - che a quel che so (e qui bramerei di essere corretta) - curata da Mario Carpitella e pubblicata nel 1974 che, sebbene abbia quella che a me pare una buona traduzione, è mancante (per scelta dei curatori) di diverse vite di pirati e di alcune descrizioni in quanto secondo i curatori si sarebbe trattato di cose che non avrebbero interessato il lettore italiano (le descrizioni naturalistiche perché poco pertinenti la pirateria e alcune biografie in quanto simili a quelle di altri pirati).
Ora tra le biografie assenti figura anche quella di 'Calico' Jack Rackham (che viene nominato solamente per il suo legame con Anne Bonny e Mary Read) e - tra tutte le biografie espunte - quest'assenza è quella che mi ha disturbato di più in quanto fan della serie tv Black Sails (dove Jack è uno dei personaggi principali) e perché a questa figura si deve uno dei personaggi che hanno riportato in auge la figura del pirata negli anni 2000: Jack Sparrow. (niente io continuo a preferire il lasciare libera scelta al lettore di saltare le parti non di suo interesse al 'decidiamo noi cosa vi può interessare').

Ma torniamo al Defoe narratore, che tra le molteplici biografie 'reali' inserisce una biografia 'verosimile', lo stile è godibilissimo e non nasconde i giudizi estremamente severi che Defoe ha verso i pirati e le loro imprese, ma questi giudizi spesso sono posti con una ironia così fine che ci si ritrova a sorridere.
Inoltre è palese, leggendo quest'opera, quanto anche Larsson si sia ispirato alle vicende di questi pirati nel far raccontare al suo Long John Silver le sue avventure al Defoe personaggio.

I gave this book a 3 star rating only because there are a number of stories that seemed too large for life based on other readings and tellings. It seems maybe Defoe began his fiction career in parts of this book. Nevertheless it's quite interesting to read a book written during the days of the Golden Age. He definitely goes in depth for many pirates, including some I have yet to hear of again. The language makes it a slightly more difficult read but overall I recommend it for any pirate historian.

An encyclopedic look into the most famous pirates of the era, written much more to be a reference text than a collection of swashbuckling tales. As with many books of this era, it's hard to parse the facts from the myths, so approaching with a skeptical eye along with an appreciation for the author's verve is recommended. Overall a nice window into the time period that should satisfy any enthusiast who is willing to crack open a tome that's a little on the drier side.

This was a skim for me since 1. It's SUPER long. 2. I have a student doing a research paper on it. Subject matter and style of writing is just not my jam.

Any way YARR MATIES

Rough read. Have to admit, I glazed over when the lists of sentences, cargo, and personnel kept coming up. Really weakens in the last fourth. There are numerous modern works that deal with the same subject matter, with more thorough sourcing and better presentation, making this--despite its grand stature in history--more of a curiosity. However, as a contemporary source when the deeds were done, it's quite intriguing nonetheless. Quite detailed. Recommended only for hardcore aficionados of the Golden Age of Piracy.

A set of short stories chronicling different pirates. This was interesting and you can see the outline for all future pirate tales to come. This is billed as a researched history, but feels more like a well organized collection of tales told at a bar over rum punch.

Powerful, brutal, and with unbelievable situations. Probably more the tall tales of pirates — but backed up with real government records of the time. Worth some time and it is included in an Audible subscription.

The standard work on the golden age of Piracy. Wildely romanticized and innacurate at some points and overly precise and stuffy at others, but in general an easy enough read on a fascinating subject.

Was very interesting to read a book about pirates written at a time when pirates were still around. However due to it being written in the 1700's, the style of writing is quite dry and hard to follow. Still interesting to get a bit of background on actual pirates and what their lives were really like.

The book mainly dictates the escapades and journeys of famous pirates, whilst also serving as general history from the time and attitudes from the general public, military and royalty towards the act of piracy.

Characters

Captain Avery = A very successful pirate overall in terms of the amount of bounty he obtained, he was actually quite friendly with a large number of other famous pirates and specific governors at the time as well. Being quite a well-educated man it was seen as strange and a large shame that he used his prestigious education to him sole benefit by plundering men from his own country, he was quite a well-liked man before he turned to such atrocious acts of murder and theft.

Captain Teach (Blackbeard) = Arguably one of the most renown and ruthless pirates to have ever lived and for very good reasons to earn this reputation. Teach was extremely aggressive in his journeys, even more so than most of his pirate brothers and sisters, he plundered a great number of ships using his signature flagship the Queen Anne's Revenge, as well as a few small settlements along the way.

He was not just ruthless to his prey neither, he regularly beat and even shot members of his own crew if they disobeyed him or even just displeased him in certain situations, to the point where most of his crew feared him above all else. He even married a 16-year-old wife, which he would share between the key members of his crew. He eventually met his demise in one of the more horrific fashions, being aggressively boarded then cut and shot to pieces by the opposing soldiers.

Charles Vane = Vane was the only pirate who outright refused King George's pardon of pirates offered to them near the end of the 17th Century, he was a true bully of a pirate and often used to torture his prisoners for his own amusement. He was also known for being an utter coward when the odds were against him leading his crew to eventually overthrow him in favor of his quartermaster another famous pirate called John Rackham.

Major Stede Bonnet = Probably the most educated pirate Stede Bonnet turned from a royal privateer to outright pirate mainly to fulfill his lust for more gold and goods. Bonnet was quite well respected before turning pirate, being a high ranking military officer for the English Navy, he was also known to treat his prisoners of war very admirably and with much respect. However, he was eventually caught and committed for his crimes, during the trial of which he wrote a now-famous letter to plead for his life to the judge himself, this, however, did not spare his punishment.

Anne Bonny = Anne is mainly famous due to her adventures with Jack Rackham, Charles Vane's former quartermaster. Jack courted Anne during the time when he was captaining Vane's old ship the Revenge and eventually ended up killing her former husband and running away with her so they could become married. She joined him for a while and participated in several pirating activities until they were both caught together in one of the West Indie Islands and hanged for their crimes.

Bartholomew Roberts = Arguably the most successful pirate with many ships and wealth captured during his reign, he was at some times lucky and others extremely unfortunate being betrayed twice by some of his former most trusted crew members. His first major pillage was a Portuguese Man-o-War shipping good specifically for the King of Portugal, he stored this massive amount of wealth at a new island which he named Devil's Island. However, he eventually got too greedy and got betrayed by his first mate after failing to catch one of his prey, who stole his prize from him.

Roberts was especially ruthless to his crew and his prisoners, killing quite a few of them in open disputes, but he was the first pirate to establish a sort of code to his crewmates to enable them to gain a fair share while serving under him on his ship.

Length

Each chapter consists of a different pirate and their many adventures and overall wealth making the book very considerable in length. This books is quite a hard read and contains around 460 pages, it will take the average reader quite a while to finish it, I found it was quite difficult to continue with for long reading sessions as the translation in places can be sometimes very confusing to understand.

My Opinion

Its hard to describe this book, it is excellently written but a difficult read as many of the sections have been translated from very old English. However, in terms of history on the golden age of piracy and the adventures that these men and women of fortune too part in, there is no greater book depicting this era.

Favourite Quotes

Page 45 - 'Set a thief to catch a thief'.
Page 226 - 'Bartholomew's rules'.
Page 229 - 'The Quartermaster's role'.
Page 315 - 'Round Robin'.

A good starting point for more research

The book was a good document of vague dates, locations, and activities that could be used to spur further research. Quick read.

One of my all time treasures. I simply love this book. I put my hand upon it every night before I go to bed because it resonates history and the tendency of rebellion to push back against the lords of Europe as soon as time and distance makes such things possible.