Pirates of Barbary
Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Mediterranean

Unapologetically unobjective. An interesting subject, but this book is so full of badly done history that it was difficult to locate any useful facts. Despite the book jacket, the writer does not appear to be a trained historian, which explains the biases that frequently crop up in the text.......more

During the 17th Century, the Barbary Coast was a place where rulers allowed their subjects to sail off and capture ships. They would bring their captive sailors and passengers back home, and sell them off as slaves. The rulers of these lands considered their subjects to be privateers; working for th......more

Not long ago I received a copy of Richard Zach's "The pirate coast : Thomas Jefferson, the first marines, and the secret mission of 1805" about Jefferson sending the fledgling American Navy to the Barbary Coast in an effort to end piracy against American shipping. I found Adrian Tinniswood's "Pirate......more

As a rule the more first-hand accounts a history book contains the more likely it is to draw me into its narrative. I want to hear the voice of people who lived through the experiences documented. The overview perspective, the impersonal big picture can be interesting in and of itself but can also r......more

Sorry, no Johnny Depp, no Keira Knightly (although there are some cameos by different and longer-lasting types of stars--Dryden, the Admiralty functionary Samuel Pepys and both John and John Quincy Adams in their diplomatic days). The subject of "Pirates of Barbary" is the century-long effort of the......more