Global Piracy: A Documentary History of Seaborne Banditry

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Many people in the western world maintain the contradictory notions that the pirates of old were romantic social bandits while their modern brethren are brutal thugs, thieves, and villains. In Global Piracy, James E. Wadsworth compiles and contextualizes a wealth of primary source documents which illustrate the global phenomenon of piracy through the eyes and voices of those who experienced it: both the pirates or privateers themselves and their victims. The book allows us to confront our stereotypes by giving us access to real pirates in a wide range of historical periods and global regions, from ancient Greece to modern day Nigeria, unfiltered as much as possible by authorial voice or interpretation. Global Piracy seeks neither to romanticize nor vilify pirates, but simply to understand them in the context of their times and the broader world they inhabited. Departing from run-of-the-mill narratives, it selects documents which provide new and fascinating insights into piracy around the globe. With documents introduced by contextual information, and supplemented by study questions, suggested reading lists, illustrations and maps, this book is an essential companion for anyone studying the history of piracy.

Reviews

Global Piracy does much to demythologize and demystify pirates for modern audiences The documents are fascinating, the related narratives are informative, and the glossary and bibliography are most-welcome additions. This is, in sum, a superlative introduction to the history of global piracy, and one would be hard-pressed to find a better starting point. It will be of great interest to students of world, maritime, and social history. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *
This volumes comprehensive, chronological and global scope illustrates a core message: that maritime piracy has always been an integral feature of the political and commercial order. It reveals that while piracy has exhibited cultural and circumstantial differences from region to region and time to time, it has featured consistent similarities in its internal dynamics and external settings. Most important, this volume reveals that pirates have never been hostis humani generis (enemies of all mankind). Pirates have been the friends, allies, and benefactors of many, which is why they have been so difficult to eradicate. What obscures this fact from many in Europe and North America is the fact that maritime predation has mostly disappeared in the Atlantic since the latter half of the nineteenth century, while it persisted and flourished elsewhere around the globe. This book ably illustrates how this Atlantic anomaly has skewed Westerners understanding what global piracy is and how to address it. * Guy Chet, Professor of History, University of North Texas, USA *
In this bold and impressively wide-ranging collection covering the global history of piracy, James E. Wadsworth provides a rich and fascinating selection of evidence to challenge longstanding romantic perceptions of the subject. Students will find this an essential guide and introduction to the subject, anyone with an interest in piracy will find it an attractive and thought-provoking collection. * John C. Appleby, Senior Lecturer in History, Liverpool Hope University, UK *

Author Bio

James E. Wadsworth is Professor of History at Stonehill College, USA. He is the author of Agents of Orthodoxy: Honor, Status and the Inquisition in Colonial Pernambuco Brazil (2007), In Defence of the Faith: Joaquim Marques de Arajo, A Brazilian Comissrio in the Age of Inquisitional Decline (2013), Columbus and His First Voyage: A History in Documents (2016), and The World of Credit in Colonial Massachusetts: James Richards and His Day Book, 1692-1711 (2017).