Customer Reviews

The Pirate City: An Algerine Tale (R. M. Ballantyne Collection)

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

 

 

A merchant and his two sons leave Sicily on a voyage, and are taken captive by a pirate from Algiers. They are enslaved, and during their many exciting adventures, we learn of the way of life in the pirate city. There is plenty of history included, along with some of the terrible ways of enforcing discipline which were used. Our main characters behave nobly, rise and fall in favor with the Deys (title of the king of Algiers), and eventually make their escape when all the slaves in Algiers were freed by the British.

I appreciate the fact that Ballantyne's historical adventures are explicitly Christian. In this one, the gospel is presented to a dying man in the slaves' prison.

Until reading this book, I had no idea about much of the history of Algiers, and this book was an easy and exciting way to learn.

This is a very readable adventure story, which creates a vivid picture of Algiers when it was a true pirate state. Piracy was its main source of prosperity. The city had to maintain a constant state of war in order to plunder its enemies's ships and capture European slaves for its citizens! On the other hand, slaves could sometimes rise to great wealth and power, even while technically still slaves. The status of Christians and Jews in this Muslim society is described, opportunities for advancement if one were to "turn Turk" [convert to Islam], the position of women in Algerian society--Very well portrayed.
I've described mainly the cultural aspects, but it is a good adventure story too, and I really enjoyed it.

I read this aloud with my young girls and we all enjoyed it and learned much of the era and area. I had never before realised the extent of the "white" slave trade.

While it's a decent story, it is a little difficult to get past the pro-Christian pro-British, anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim rhetoric. That's why I gave it 3***.