Introduction
Chapter One: Pirates in Ancient Greece and Rome
From the earliest documented evidence of pirates in the Aegean in
the 13th century BC to Thracian pirates in Ancient Greece. In 75BC
Julius Caesar was captured by pirates in the Aegean: when they
demanded a ransom of 20 pieces of gold, he insisted that they ask
for 50. He later had them crucified. Pompey was made responsible
for suppressing piracy, and eventually brought many to justice.
Chapter Two: Vikings, Arabs: Pirates in the Dark Ages
From the Viking raids on the British Isles and France to Irish
attacks on Britain to Arab raids on the eastern Mediterranean. How
the pirates were organized and how they were eventually
defeated.
Chapter Three: Piracy in the Far East
Wokou, Japanese pirates, raided Korean and Chinese merchant ships.
Peaking in the early 1500s, by the end of the century a combination
of factors, including official trade policies and better policing,
led to the decline of Wokou.
Chapter Four: Honour Among Thieves
Introduction to the golden age of piracy in the 17th and 18th
centuries. What life was like for a pirate crew, and why a code was
needed. Few pirate articles have survived, because pirates on the
verge of capture or surrender usually burned their articles or
threw them overboard, to prevent the papers being used against them
at trial.
Chapter Five: Bartholomew Roberts’ and Captain John Philips’
Articles
The two most famous pirate codes are examined in detail. How did
they come about and were they more a set of guidelines? How these
codes eventually evolved into the modern merchant shipping
contract.
Chapter Six: Tales from the Caribbean
Some of the most famous pirates and their campaigns – looking at
how the Code was intepreted and often broken in the violent and
dangerous world of the pirate ship.
Chapter Seven: The Brethren of the Coast
Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and
privateers active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in
the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. They were a
syndicate of captains with a written code of conduct. Among famous
Brethren members was Henry Morgan. The Code in the Pirates of the
Caribbean movies is most closely related to the code of the
Brethren.
Chapter Eight: Pirates Today
It’s estimated that up to $18 billion are lost each year due to
piracy. Current pirate hotspots are in the Horn of Africa, South
America, the South China Sea and between Malaysia and Sumatra. More
than 200 pirate attacks were reported in 2006. This chapter looks
at the links between piracy and organized crime (Mafia, Yakuza etc)
and the complex system of loyalties, oaths and bloody reprisals
that govern this shady world.
Index
Illustrated history of pirates from the ancient world to Somalia
Brenda Ralph Lewis has written more than 100 books and hundreds of magazine articles, as well as radio and television documentaries, on subjects including history (both ancient and modern), myth and legend, animal and insect life, archaeology and genealogy. She lives in Buckinghamshire, England.
"an engagingly written survey of piracy, from its earliest
manifestations to recent times."
*H-Caribbean*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
