The Pirates' Pact: The Secret Alliances Between History's Most Notorious Buccaneers and Colonial America

by Douglas R. Burgess Jr.

Overview

The Secret Alliances Between History's Most Notorious Buccaneers and Colonial America

Was classical piracy an earlier version of state-sponsored terrorism?

Here's the story of how almost every well-known buccaneer of the “Golden Age of Piracy” enjoyed active sponsorship from England's governors in the American colonies- setting a pattern of official disobedience to the Crown that would ultimately contribute to the American push for independence. Relying on rare primary sources discovered in government archives in England, the Carolinas, Rhode Island, Jamaica, and elsewhere, Burgess combines true tales of derring-do with groundbreaking research in this fascinating history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071643368
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	10/05/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Douglas R. Burgess Jr. is one of the world's foremost authorities on piracy. He holds a J.D. with a concentration in International Public Law from Cornell University and a Master's degree in International Law with a concentration in contemporary high-seas piracy. An award-winning writer of short historical fiction and nonfiction, his writings on piracy have appeared in the journal Legal Affairs and have been quoted in the New York Times.

Table of Contents

Piracy in context
Life in the British Atlantic colonies
The rise of Caribbean piracy
The pirate princes of Jamaica
The curious case of Henry Avery
Lord Hamilton's downfall
The pirate haven of Rhode Island
The despair of Lord Bellomont
The "Golden Age" of Atlantic piracy
Lord Bellomont and Capt. Kidd
Governor Eden and the pirates of the Carolinas
Blackbeard: Pirate par excellence
Woodes Rogers and the end of the pirate brokers

Editorial Reviews

Most of us have heard the stories connected with the "Golden Age of Piracy," 1660-1725. Be they fictional or factual, the exploits of such famous buccaneers as Henry Morgan, Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard), and William Kidd as well as less-well-known figures such as King Baldridge, Thomas Tew, and Henry Every have permeated literature and history around the world. Burgess (Seize the Trident ) recounts the stories of the political and business figures who supported these pirates and their voyages of plunder and murder, describing how the colonial governors in North America and the West Indies engaged in pirate brokering, selling privateering commissions that legitimized the armed seizure of treasure-laden ships as far away as the Red Sea. This was effectively state-sponsored piracy, and everyone profited from it-everyone except the English Crown, that is. An engaging story wonderfully told with solid research. Highly recommended.-David Lee Poremba, Keiser Univ., Orlando, FL

Library Journal