Customer Reviews

Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"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.

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.

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.