The Republic Of Pirates: Being The True And Surprising Story Of The Caribbean Pirates And The Man Who Brought Them Down By Colin Woodard

The Golden Age of Piracy, roughly a 30 year period at the beginning of the 18th century, has taken on such a romantic notion in the modern mind, that when you actually discover the true events of the period, that the true story becomes much larger than the caricature that has been painted by Disney or other children’s’ stories. What Woodard, a native Maine journalist, attempts to do in this book is explain who the pirates actually were, what their motivation was, and why their heyday ended so rapidly. What makes this book so readable, is that not only does Woodard recount the hazards of early 18th century sailing so well, but he places it in its economic, social and political context.

What made the pirates of the age so different from previous pirates, for piracy has been around as long as men have taken to the sea, was that these pirates were considered outlaws by every nation, and quite a large percentage of the few thousand who made up the Golden Age, were political dissenters, and hopeful insurgents against the new House of Hanover of Britain, and supporters of the deposed House of Stuart.

Woodard inserts several things into his narrative that make this book worthwhile. His description of the extremely harsh social and economic conditions that sailors of the day had to serve under goes a long way to describe why a sailor with an otherwise spotless record would choose to leave legitimate merchant or military service for the high risk life of a Caribbean pirate. The author also makes the at time arcane world of 18th century sailing understandable and real. The reader, by the end of the book, should know the difference and significance between sloops, various rates of line ships, and frigates for example.

The book focuses on the personalities of the era especially well. The rise pirate “republic” of the failed British colony of the Bahamas is shown to be personality driven by pirates like Vane and Hornigold. The public persona of Blackbeard, as well as the bumbling of Stede Bonnet illustrates how pirates used or misused their personal gifts to advance their high risk/ high reward profession.

Put into context, the reader, besides learning about a fascination time period that was as exciting and really as short lived as the outlaw period of the American west or the gangster rule of Chicago, can see how a pattern of the rule of law and social convention breaks down in all sorts of time periods and circumstances. The British government solution, led by the Bahamian Governor, Woodes Rogers, was to aggressively assert authority over the center of the insurgence and then to alternate between warnings of mercy and systematic hunting of the lawbreakers by getting them to use their natural suspicion to turn on each other.

This is a fascinating book for the general reader. There are sufficient maps of the 18th century Caribbean and the North American coast, and the writing not only puts the events into context, but tells the story well, by describing the motivations and personalities of the Golden Age of Piracy so that they make sense within their time period.

Of the major works dedicated to Caribbean piracy, this one favors the Romantic interpretation. Neither great national heroes, nor psychopathic dictators, the men we today call the “pirates” were outlaw, adventure-seeking republicans in search of a tolerable life outside the miserable conditions of the Royal Navy or merchant marine. The pirates became outlaws because the “law” was so ruthless and arbitrary, particularly in how it was applied on board a ship. This is the basic thesis of the book. Sounds just like a story out of the Wild West, doesn’t it? That’s because it really is. It’s a story that we can easily translate to England’s Wild West. The metaphor works.

Believable? At first glance, maybe not, but then the author begins to lay out the evidence, from primary sources. Here, in the Caribbean of the early 18th century, are a group of men with grandiose aspirations living on the edge of civilization, where laws are vague and life is rough hewn. A group of these enterprising fellows established their own stable and independent quasi-state in the British Bahamas, for themselves and other deserters and outcasts of society, before their constant economic harassment attracted the attention of the colonial governors of Virginia, South Carolina, New Providence (Bahamas) and, eventually, King George I. They were gone by 1730, killed, lost, imprisoned or dispersed, just as the western gunslingers were gone by 1890.

It’s this type of romanticizing that keeps our interest. While the author really has a story to tell, this is good maritime history as well. The book gives us a good overview of colonial conditions, culture and economics as they existed in the Caribbean during the period. The author’s language is colorful enough to immerse the reader in the setting, perhaps not as well as a novelist, but with some flair that leaves us entertained. It’s a good story and keeps your attention.

There are some editorial errors in the books. Misspellings, grammatical, etc… They’re never really bothersome, but they do reveal a less professional copy editing effort.

The title of this book caught my eye when I was ordering “On Stranger Tides”. It is informative, interesting and well written, providing an in depth view of the daily life and organization of Pirates.

Well written, detailed and fun to read.