Good Reading

[Capt. Flint]

Ahoy me hearties..... I remembered a couple of books that I have that you might find interesting and helpful. The first is.... PIRATES..terror on the high seas from the carribbean to the south china sea... by worldwide illustrated history.... this is a hard back big book, with lots of pictures and great descriptions. The stories are brief, but, with good detail. The second is ... 20,000 years in fashion... by Abrams... This is a very thick book and rather on the expensive side. The only way I got it was to special order it. It is incredible in the amount of clothing it covers and is filled with incredible pictures and expressive detailing about all of it. it has everything from basic clothes to hats, shoes, underwear, even bags and accessories. I found it well worth the price. It is a huge help to any serious re-enactor..... Until another time.. the Capt. arrgghhhhh

[Coastie04]

Another reccomended book/poem is The Ballad of the Pirate Queens, by Jane Yolen. Though not completely historically accurate, it's a great poem and the illustrations are great.

Since I'm on the track of the more 'artsy' pirate literature, I also have a book entitled What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor? by Douglas Morgan. It's full of some good sea shanties and came with a cool bookmark as well. Lastly, I just saw this weekend a very small book of sea shanties (probably 20 pages, and a book that's 2X4 inches or so). I thought it was kind of a cute (if I'm allowed to use that word as a pira...er, honest privateer) little thing, and it was compiled by "John Tarr".

Coastie04

"The sea yields to knowledge, I yield to rum."

[crow]

Avast me hearties I have just been readin a book by a feller named Bjorn Larsson . It is called interestingly enough Long John Silver " The true and eventful history of my life of liberty and adventure as a gentleman of fortune and enemy of mankind."

It is a fairly well written book and it fleshes out the character of Long john Silver. A good read for a quiet night .

[Booga]

It is a fairly well written book and it fleshes out the character of  Long john Silver. A good read  for a quiet night .

Well in my opinion it is a very well researched fictional book. And according to a friend of mine is Björn Larsson a really swell guy

[captweaver65]

one of my favorites is ;

SHE CAPTAINS by Joan Druett

it is a great read if ya like the historical and covers pirates,captains and seamen's wives.

other good books are;

WOMEN PIRATES by Ulrike Klausmann,

THE PIRATE'S OWN BOOK by Charles Ellms & the Marine Research Society,

and of course;

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTTS by Clifford Ashley-this is my ultimate book,because I love to work with rope-nothing better than watching a movie at home and working on some kinda decorative knotwork(my current project is a thrum cap)

Capt Weaver

[Booga]

WOMEN PIRATES by Ulrike Klausmann,

I actually don´t like this book at all. When I first heard about it I got really excited cause I thought it would have new angles and theories on the issue. But I was deeply dissappointed when I realized how bad they listed their sources. Whenever they had an interresting thing to tell, anything new, the sources were missing.

[Captain Luigi]

I have heard "Under the Black Flag " is suppose to be a good book. Looking for it now. Recently I have read "Expedition Whydah" by Barry Clifford. A story of the world's first excavated pirate ship. Very good reading.

[captweaver65]

booga,

thanx for the heads up-I'll hafta reread it with that in mind

Capt Weaver

[redhand]

Capt. Flint

Is the "Pirates-Terror on the high seas" book you're talking

about the one illustrated by angus McBride & authored by

angus Konstam? That's a great book, with lots of great illustrations

by McBride. I managed to pick it up at a local used book store

in brand new condition for $15 bucks, and got another for a mere $5

by a guy maned Sherry, titled Rebels & Rascals or something like that,

it's about the golden age of piracy. looks pretty extensive, had a interesting chapter devoted entirely to Black Beard, it covers the

late 1680-90s until about the 1740s. Looking forward to getting into it.

The Pirate book is great though, if only to look at!

Check out www.powellsbooks.com they're a really great used

& new book store in Portland, they have 3 store, but the main one

is an entire city block! and about three stories!

Cheers & good reading

Redhand

[Tiny Williams]

I been readin da credits on da screen dere, bout all da pryate readin I been doin dere lately... unlessen you be counting da ship 'Enterprise' dere... "War Drums" was da last one I read bout dat crew dere... thou I noticed al lot less o' da pryratin in dat one and a lot o' Klingons dere.

[captweaver65]

redhand,

I'll agree with ya that powell's is a truly incredible place-if you can't find it there,they will try and get it for you.their rare book section is also excellent.

[redhand]

Yeah powells is a great place,

I could stay there all day. Haven't been there

in a while now, need to go and spend some loot!

so many books, so little cash:D

LOL!

redhand

[CaptCat]

I have to say that I found Cordingly's Under the Black Flag (I have both this and its previous incarnation Life Among the Pirates) somewhat dry and boring compared to books like Exquemelin's Buccaneers of America and Johnson's General History of the Pyrates. I suppose I like the story element in the older books? Tough to say.

Of course, I don't know if Captain Luigi was referring to Cordingly's book or Seitz'?

[Jamaica Rose]

WOMEN PIRATES by Ulrike Klausmann,

I actually don´t like this book at all. When I first heard about it I got really excited cause I thought it would have new angles and theories on the issue. But I was deeply dissappointed when I realized how bad they listed their sources. Whenever they had an interresting thing to tell, anything new, the sources were missing.

I agree with Booga. Klausmann, et al, make some fantastic claims in "Women Pirates", but don't give references to back them up. The most fantastic claim is that they say Bartholomew Roberts was really a woman! The best evidence they give is that his manners were feminine.

The section on Asian pirates seems decently done though.

However, the book is an interesting read. They write in a very accessible manner. So you might read the book just for entertainment, but don't take it for Gospel truth. Also -- you need to watch out for a fairly heavy-handed feminist agenda (though it's not as bad as "Bold in Her Breeches" (which at least gives references).

And yes, yer hearin' this from a female-type pyrate. I enjoy learning about female pyrates, but not when cast with a "politically correct" feminist bent to it.

Blackheartedly yrs,

--Jamaica Rose

"Strip him, bathe him, and bring him to my cabin!"

[Red Maria]

WOMEN PIRATES by Ulrike Klausmann,

I actually don´t like this book at all. When I first heard about it I got really excited cause I thought it would have new angles and theories on the issue. But I was deeply dissappointed when I realized how bad they listed their sources. Whenever they had an interresting thing to tell, anything new, the sources were missing.

I agree. Also the recipes included are disconcerting in a work purporting to be a serious work on the subject of piracy. Especially the recipes with shark meat. As I understand it pirates avoid shark meat because sharks ate the dead thrown overboard and one might end up eating a shark that ate a dead comrade. Too much like cannibalism. The recipes make it seem if they publisher didn?t think the book would sell without them. Also I thought translation was awkward.

As to what books I like as far as women pirates go is:

?Bold in Her Breeches? edited by Jo Stanley

?She Captains? By Joan Druett

For more general information:

?Under the Black Flag: The Romance & the Reality of Life Among the Pirates? by David Cordingly

?Bandits at Sea: A Pirate Reader? edited by C.R. Pennell

?The Pirate Picture? by Rayner Thrower

?The Pirate?s Who?s Who? by Phillip Gosse

?Pirates: Myths & Realities? by Robert C. Ritchie

For specific pirates:

?Captain Kidd & the War Against the Pirates? by Robert C. Ritchie

?The Black Ship ?? by Barry Clifford

If I think of anymore I?ll post them

[Jamaica Rose]

I agree. Also the recipes included are disconcerting in a work purporting to be a serious work on the subject of piracy. Especially the recipes with shark meat. As I understand it pirates avoid shark meat because sharks ate the dead thrown overboard and one might end up eating a shark that ate a dead comrade. Too much like cannibalism.

As to what books I like as far as women pirates go is:

Actually --- I kind of enjoyed the recipes. They were like musical interludes between the chapters. Though I haven't tried any of them. I liked the stories that came with them.

Regarding sharks, I've not encountered any pirate attitudes to sharks. But this was interesting. Where have you found this idea about not eating them?

Blackheartedly yrs,

--Jamaica Rose

"Raise your IQ. Eat gifted children."

[Red Maria]

[

Regarding sharks, I've not encountered any pirate attitudes to sharks. But this was interesting. Where have you found this idea about not eating them?

Blackheartedly yrs,

--Jamaica Rose

"Raise your IQ. Eat gifted children."

Jamaica

The reference about sharks comes from Pirates: Myths & realities (James Ford Bell Lectures no. 23) by Robert C. Ritchie pg 13:

? The few surviving daily journals kept by men on board pirate ships record frequent deaths and short ceremonies in which bodies went over the side wrapped in sheets with cannonballs at their feet. The sharks followed along, dining at their leisure and were known as ?requiems? to the men, who also avoided shark meat because of this.?

My conclusion is that because the pirates saw the sharks eat their comrades it made shark meat less appetizing to them.

BTW I put quotation marks around the titles on the list I put up but when the post came through the quotation marks turned into question marks. Why is that? See it just happened again!

[Guest Angus MacVox]

"testing this is a quote" hm. i'm not sure, it works fer me

[Red Maria]

"testing this is a quote" hm. i'm not sure, it works fer me

Angus could you try it in the "quote" mode?

[Capt. Flint]

Ahoy all.... I just picked up the latest issue of Military History. Inside is an article on Cossack Pirates. It is a really interesting story and has a lot of information. Also, for any of you out there intersted in the Revolutionary war ( such as myself ) there os also a well written article on the strugle for Agusta . Enjoy .....arrrghhhh The Capt.

[PirateQueen]

Lookin' for books on Barbary Coast corsairs, preferably during the 17th century. Any recommendations?

I have "The Barbary Slaves" by Stephen Clissold, and it's pretty good, but I'd like to find other good ones.

[Red Maria]

Lookin' for books on Barbary Coast corsairs, preferably during the 17th century. Any recommendations?

I have "The Barbary Slaves" by Stephen Clissold, and it's pretty good, but I'd like to find other good ones.

Lorilei

Try these:

"Piracy, Slavery, & Redemption: Barbary Captive Narratives from Early Modern England" Selected & Edited by Daniel J. Vitkus. Columbia University Press, 2001 ISBN 0231119054 (pbk).

"Piracy & Diplomacy in Seventeeth Century North Africa: The Journal of Thomas Baker, English Consul in Tripoli, 1677-1685" Edited & with an Introduction by C.R. Pennell. Associated University Press, 1989 ISBN 083633021 (hbk)

One more if you can find it is: " Tangier England's Lost Atlantic Colony, 1661-1684 by E.M.G. Routh John Murray, Albmemarle Street W., 1912

Hope that helps

[PirateQueen]

Many thanks for the recommendations, Red Maria! :)