A serious treatment of the history of piracy, the life of William
Kidd (one of the better-known of the profession) and the demise of
buccaneering. While the public conception of pirates has always
been that of swashbuckling individualists out for personal fortune,
Ritchie (History/UCal at San Diego) shows that in actuality, they
were early businessmen, selling their services to governments that
couldn't legally sanction such schemes but which nevertheless
encouraged piracy as a major economic enterprise. Governments and
merchants on both sides of the Atlantic often averted their eyes to
the goings on of such as Kidd in order to trade with them. The
pirates were "marginal men freed from societal conventions, living
beyond restraint except for the few rules they set for themselves."
Kidd was one of these. Born into a rigidly Calvinist Scottish
family around 1645, he took to the sea, where he dashed from the
Caribbean to New York to London to the Indian Ocean before being
caught up in political intrigue (tied to the fortunes of the Whig
leaders for his last great expedition, Kidd became a pawn when
their influence waned and their opposition hunted him down,
imprisoned him and, finally, sent him to the gallows). Ritchie
compares the cob lapse of the buccaneering system to the fall of
the cowboy in our own society - they were basically crushed by the
competing needs of the more powerful modern states. A refreshing
look at a subject usually too easily frivolized. (Kirkus Reviews)
The legends that die hardest are those of the romantic outlaw, and
those of swashbuckling pirates are surely among the most durable.
Swift ships, snug inns, treasures buried by torchlight,
palm-fringed beaches, fabulous riches, and, most of all, freedom
from the mean life of the laboring man are the stuff of this
tradition reinforced by many a novel and film.
It is disconcerting to think of such dashing scoundrels as
slaves to economic forces, but so they were--as Robert Ritchie
demonstrates in this lively history of piracy. He focuses on the
shadowy figure of William Kidd, whose career in the late
seventeenth century swept him from the Caribbean to New York, to
London, to the Indian Ocean before he ended in Newgate prison and
on the gallows. Piracy in those days was encouraged by governments
that could not afford to maintain a navy in peacetime. Kidd's most
famous voyage was sponsored by some of the most powerful men in
England, and even though such patronage granted him extraordinary
privileges, it tied him to the political fortunes of the mighty
Whig leaders. When their influence waned, the opposition seized
upon Kidd as a weapon. Previously sympathetic merchants and
shipowners did an about-face too and joined the navy in hunting
down Kidd and other pirates.
By the early eighteenth century, pirates were on their way to
becoming anachronisms. Ritchie's wide-ranging research has probed
this shift in the context of actual voyages, sea fights, and
adventures ashore. What sort of men became pirates in the first
place, and why did they choose such an occupation? What was life
like aboard a pirate ship? How many pirates actually became
wealthy? How were they governed? What largeforces really caused
their downfall?
As the saga of the buccaneers unfolds, we see the impact of
early modern life: social changes and Anglo-American politics, the
English judicial system, colonial empires, rising capitalism, and
the maturing bureaucratic state are all interwoven in the story.
Best of all, "Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates" is an
epic of adventure on the high seas and a tale of back-room politics
on land that captures the mind and the imagination.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
