Customer Reviews

The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730 (Dover Maritime)

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"The Pirates of the New England Coast" constitutes a very well researched and serious source on Piracy for the period 1630-1730. I highly recomend this book, which is well written, entertaining and accurate. The main character is Boston-born Edward Low, the most notorious of all New Englanders who became pirates. Five chapters are dedicated to him, and one to Captain Lowther, his closest partner in plundering. Three chapters are interesting accounts written by seamen who were captured and remained on board Low's ship for weeks. These narrations are among the most valuable sources dealing with life on board a pirate ship. The exploits of other less known pirates such as Harris, Spriggs, Phillips and Fly,(who were all sailing under Low for some time before seeking their own fortunes independently), are also well detailed and researched, based on first hand documents, including: state papers, judicial documents on the pirate trials, and gazettes dating from the Colonial Period.

Most of this book's information is simply a re-hash of previous works, particularly Johnson/Defoe's "A General History of Pirates". This work purports to cover the major pirates of the New England coast, yet almost entirely overlooks Edward Teach (Blackbeard), who spent quite a bit of his time off North Carolina - although the book shows Teach on its cover. The first-hand accounts reprinted in this book are extremely enjoyable, yet I must wonder why such informative accounts have not been included in any other major works on piracy. This leaves me wondering about the authenticity of these accounts. Three times in this work, the flag of Ned Low (and numerous of his shipmates, who set off on their own piratical journeys) is described in detail and each time it is the ensign of Edward Teach that is described, rather than Low, while brief mention of Teach leaves his flag conspicuously undescribed.

While the first-hand accounts are enjoyable to read, I would not recommend this book to serious piratical enthusiasts. Try "A General History of Pirates" instead; you'll read much more reliable accounts of many of the same pirates.