Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates (Harvest Book) | 
 enlarge | Author: David Cordingly
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  106 reviews
Sales Rank: 193930
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0156005492
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.45
EAN: 9780156005494
ASIN: 0156005492
Publication Date: September 15, 1997
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Amazon.com Review
Though literature, films, and folklore have romanticized pirates as gallant seaman who hunted for treasure in exotic locales, David Cordingly, a former curator at the National Maritime Museum in England, reveals the facts behind the legends of such outlaws as Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, and Calico Jack. Even stories about buried treasure are fictitious, he says, yet still the myth remains. Though pirate captains were often sadistic villains and crews endured barbarous tortures, were constantly threatened with the possibility of death by hanging, drowning in a storm, or surviving a shipwreck on a hostile coast, pirates are still idealized. Cordingly examines why the myth of the romance of piratehood endures and why so few lived out their days in luxury on the riches they had plundered.
Product Description
"This is the most authoritative and highly literate account of these pernicious people that I have ever read." -- Patrick O'Brian
Pirates are so much a part of legend that it is easy to forget they actually existed. UNDER THE BLACK FLAG tells their story in a rollicking account of the golden age of piracy that is packed with history, anecdote, and above all adventure. Here are the true stories of such bloodthirsty legends as Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, Anne Bonny, and the fearsome Mary Read. And here are rousing descriptions of what ships pirates sailed, what punishments they exacted, what they really wore, and how they flourished--or perished. From the smoky havoc of shipboard battle to the loneliness of a fugitive's life at sea, this spellbinding narrative vividly brings the brutal world of pirates to life.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 101 more reviews...
 Separating the fact of piracy from all the fiction, and romance September 24, 2008
Pirates from the heyday of piracy, from the 16th to the early 18th century, were driven to it by many forces. Some were poor saps taken prisoner by pirates and forced to join. Some fled the brutality of the English navy or its merchant fleet. Some had been free woodcutters or herdsman in the Caribbean or Central America, only to be driven away by the Spanish or British.
And of course, some were just mean, sadistic bastards driven by a lust for treasure and plunder.
Drawing from many documentary sources, including memoirs, trial transcript, histories from the period, and fictions with the ring of truth, Cordingly draws together a workmanlike picture of the pirates we know more from dramatic representations than from actual fact. Their tactics, hideouts, habits and organizational structures - yes, they had them, and they were often quite democratic - are all here. An enjoyable beach read.
 Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates July 18, 2008
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates is an excellent book!! I love it! A must for all pirate lovers!
Worth a serious look July 16, 2008
This book does a great job of separating the fact and the fiction of the history of pirates. It may be somewhat depressing to read at times such as the horrible revelation that for the most part pirates didn't have parrots nor were they particularly merciful to the crews they captured over the course of a raid.
For all of their faults Pirates were somewhat unique for a culture in the 16th, 17th and 18th century in so far as there was a genuine opportunity for advancement but the sorrowful truth is that most pirates far from getting rich exited this life at the end of a rope.
Overall-An excellent resource for serious historians or for people who are just curious about the subject.
A History Major's Review June 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As a child pirates fascinated me, but as a college student studying history I found that serious forays into the historical truth of piracy were few and far between. My boyhood fascination and adult inquisitive nature both found outlets in Under The Black Flag. The book is written with the general population in mind but has enough for historians to gain further insights into the lives of pirates.
The book deals primarily with the pirates found in the Caribbean and North America, but gives brief accounts of pirate activity in the rest of the world as well. It profiles such figures as Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Anne Bonney, Black Bart, and Calico Jack among others. The book even has a section on famous fictional pirates, reminding us of literary classics such as Long John Silver and Captain Hook.
If you have ever wanted to learn more about Pirates, this is the book for you.
The difference between romance and the life of Pirates May 29, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It was a great eye opener to the world of the true Pirates compared to the ones that the movies make for us like in Pirates of the Caribbean. Over all (bear with me.. it's been over a year since I finished this) it's about the life, styles of command, torture.. and all that great stuff that Pirates took part in.. how each one was different. Also going on to explain that the Pirates of the Caribbean were extremely friendly compared to Chinese Pirates, which the author didn't go on with any sort of depth, since this is primarily on the Caribbean and American Pirates.
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