Customer Reviews

The Pirates Own Book: Authentic Narratives of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers (Dover Maritime)

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

 

 

After you've read a few dozen books on pirates and piracy, you start to notice that they, mostly, repeat the same stuff over and over again. There IS material in here that I have not seen in other books; however, a good portion is rewritten from Captain Charles Johnson's A General History of Pirates.

The book is reprinted from the 1837 version and an entertaining read. It is not generally a children's book. As to the factual nature of the narratives, it's hard to say. Like several of the other pirate books I have reviewed, this one is an important part of balanced view of what piracy is really about. P-)

"The Pirates Own Book" is written in old, Nineteenth Century English, which provides the reader with an archaic atmosphere that allows a better undestanding of the characters and their times. Its illustrations are worth mentioning because they are beautiful and imaginative engravings that have been reproduced in some of the most important works on Piracy. The book covers a wide period in History: from the Medieval Norman and Danish Sea Robbers to the cases of piracy in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. Even though, it lacks to mention the ancient Mediterranean Piracy in the times of Alexander and, later on, in the Roman Times. Something really interesting of this book is that it includes narrations of pirates from all five continents, demonstrating that piracy has existed in all the seas since Maritime Commerce was applied. The lives of some of the least known pirates, such as the Chilean Vincent Benavides and the Spanish Benito de Soto are covered in this volume. "The Pirates Own Book" is highly recommendable for all readers interested in piracy, for it is mentioned as first hand source in many works.

This is a good read, but you better be ready for the original 18th and 19th century language. It is authentic, and is often more disturbing than romantic (as we've come to expect of pirate books).

A compilation of contemporaneous stories about pirates, which was compiled in the early 1800s. It is a very, and I want to stress very, general overview on pirate lives. It sounded to me like a good compilation of stories when I received the book however; it seemed to be information obtained for a child's use. This is not a scholarly type of source in the least and should not be read as such. It is however, a good general overview of the basic biography of major/famous pirates.

I liked this book BECAUSE it tells the story of various pirates in history in their own words. Also the diversity of the featured pirates was interesting. This book takes you into their world, paints you a vivid picture of the places they roamed, their adventures, and their downfalls. I recommend this book to anyone intrigued by pirates.

This is the first book I've read on true pirate history (but it won't be the last), and I found this book compelling and informative, while imagining actually having been in these situations. I found it a bit difficult to read, to be honest, because many of the sentences were strung together in a way I'm not used to. That's not to say it can't be followed; just know that it's not written in the English of today.

These tales of bloodthirsty pirates and their battles are chilling to read. Details are shared of some of the most gruesome injuries and deaths. Pirates were often not merciful, and not always content to steal what they could. I think this is a title that belongs in any historian's collections, especially of piratical and nautical history.

The Pirates Own Book: Authentic Narratives of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers is a great book! A must for any pirate fan - for sure!