Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption [Hardcover]

Daniel Vitkus (Editor), Nabil Matar (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0231119046 | ISBN-13: 978-0231119047 | Edition: Reprint

These narratives recount the harrowing experiences of Englishmen abducted by the Barbary pirates of North Africa. After being sold into slavery, the narrators succeeded in returning to their homeland where their stories were printed. Never before available in a modern, annotated edition, these tales describe combat at sea, extraordinary escapes, and religious conversion, but they also illustrate the power, prosperity, and piety of Muslims in the early modern Mediterranean. Each narrative is preceded by a brief introduction, and Nabil Matar's genera introduction provides important new information about the historical context of captivity and slavery in North Africa.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Piracy, slavery, captivity, and redemption were compelling subjects in the sixteenth and seventeenth century; Daniel J. Vitkus and Nabil Matar have, in this well-edited volume of early English images of the Islamic world, made them equally fascinating to twenty-first-century academic and lay readers... [This] books does a fine job of making primary source material available to, and readable by, a wide audience.

(Carolyn S. Knapp The Historian )

[T]his collection transcends geographical and disciplinary boundaries, and researchers... will find Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption to be both a useful and timely volume.

(Donna Amelia Vinson Renaissance Quarterly )

Review

These extraodinary narratives make for compelling reading. This book is a must read for anyone interested in travel literature, in Renaissance culture encounters, and in rethinking Orientalism.

(James Shapiro, author of Shakespeare and the Jews )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; Reprint edition (November 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231119046
• ISBN-13: 978-0231119047
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,687,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Muslim Piracy 1600s: England, April 4, 2010

By 

William Garrison Jr. (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption (Hardcover)

"Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption" edited by Daniel Vitkus. This is a collection of 7 `booklets' written by English sailors or merchants who had been captured by various Arab/Moor pirates between 1589 - 1704 and sold into slavery in northern Africa (Algiers). Later, these Englishmen either were ransomed or escaped. Why these stories? Apparently, they were the only ones that could be discovered by the author during this early era. Only the last `booklet' by Joseph Pitts did I find of great interest, because he provided a lot of details about his captivity and escape, while the others did not seem to be very verbose about their captivity experiences. Most of the captives recount some horror befalling some unfortunate fellow slave: the burning of a monk or the impaling of those recaptured after a short, futile escape. The editor's introduction chapter is very educational in understanding the activities of the slave-seeking Muslim pirates. The editor is to be commended for finding these scarce stories and collating them into this book. Something useful for those researching this field, but not particularly exciting if you are just looking for some `action packed' pirate stories.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars treasure trove, February 27, 2008

By 

D. Bachelor "Daoud" (Iraq) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption (Paperback)

This book is a treasure trove of documents and personal accounts from the age of Christian slavery in North Africa. These accounts bring to life a period in European history that I was not taught about in school. Although best sellers in their day, these accounts and some of the supporting letters are no longer easily accessible so I really appreciated this book.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christian Slaves in Muslim Lands, August 29, 2007

By 

John Williamson (Cambridge, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption (Paperback)

If you are interested in this ground-breaking field of history, go no further! There are only about four books you need, and this is one of them.