Its been a few weeks since I finished my last book and I haven’t been neglecting my reading, I have been chipping away at two books, this one and Eye of The Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman which should be finished in a few days.

This is a book that I have owned for 10 years or more and wanted to read it for so long but always put it off. I decided to give it a proper go and what a great and surprising read. It is a very detailed book and not dry but can seem a tad repetitive. It changed how I see pirates, we see them as villains and to the authorities they were BUT amongst themselves they were very social and making sure they all had fair treatment, rations and despite being disorderly and violent they had charters and good conduct amongst themselves. A bad captain was demoted by popular vote, stealing rations was punishable, women and children not allowed on board to keep the peace and if a woman was part of a captured vessel she would be protected and any pirate who tried to be with her unwillingly was executed.

The pirates came from legal privateer, merchant and Royal Navy stock and had suffered mistreatment whether it be by poor treatment, unequal rations and withheld pay. For the pirates being an honest fellow was more important than someone’s status. Their reputations of course were deserved but they were ahead of their time too with equality and democracy among shipmates. The truth of a pirate is in the middle of the romantic and legal view.

A surprise too was on the rare instance of a female pirate, they are more than matches for their male counterparts and certainly had balls of steel and were as strong and able as any man. The most notable being Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Anne Bonny said to be an inspiration for the Statue of Liberty and the painting of Liberty Leading The People by Eugene Delacroix

It was a great read and I am glad I have finally read this book. I would enjoy reading more about pirates and piracy in general. My only complaint with this book is that a chunk of it is Index and Notes.