Pirates: Terror on the High Seas from the Caribbean to the South China Sea

by David Cordingly

Book Overview

A global overview of pirates documents the real world of these seafaring terrors, their violent lives of robbery and murder, and the exploits of famous pirates. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572152648
• ISBN13: 9781572152649
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: Misc. Account
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 3.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 9.4" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

A Broad Survey of Piracy

Titled as an Illustrated History, this book is a step up from the usual history of piracy in that it is lavishly illustrated throughout with a variety of maps, painting reproductions and pictures of artifacts. David Cordingly is the editor of this collection of essays that cover the prominent periods of piracy from the Spanish settlement of the western hemisphere to the present. The topics span the early raids on the Spanish by the various representatives of other European powers, buccaneers, Mediterranean corsairs, Golden Age, pirate round, privateers, Chinese and eastern pirates as well as modern day piracy. Each topic is covered by a different author (although at three topics, Jenifer Marx may be a little over represented). Overall, this is an excellent introduction/overview of piracy. I found no glaring omissions, nor extreme theories in what amounts to a very solid collection of prose; I particularly liked the topic on French and American privateers, a topic not often found so well detailed. While I still prefer Angus Konstam's The History of Piracy as an illustrated introduction to the overall topic, this book runs a firm second. P-)

Fascinating book with lots of pictures!

This large and attractive book gives the history of pirates from the 1600s to today. Organized primarily chronologically, but also by region, the book traces the history of piracy from pirates sailing the Spanish Main, through the Barbary Corsairs, French and American pirates, Chinese pirates of the nineteenth century, and pirates around the world at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Overall, I found this to be a fascinating book. Plus, what makes the book even nicer is that it is chock-full of large and interesting pictures. Is this a coffee-table book? I suppose so, but it is an excellent history book, sure to please anyone interested in learning more about pirates and piracy. I give this book my highest recommendations!

Excellent pirate books with many color pictures

The 1996 issue of this book is the first edition. The 1998 book is a second edition. This book contains many color pictures and is very detailed. It is a 8 1/2 by 11 inch book and about 1 inch thick. David Cordingly is an excellent writer. One of the well known authors of pirate books.

Tremendous.

This book is exquisite. Highly detailed, with rich lush paintings and drawings, it fully explores the many aspects of a rover's life. I highly recommend it.

Review for Pirates: Terror on the High Seas

I bought this book sight unseen, and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived. It is a large book, well suited to a coffee table type of use, and is filled with fascinating engravings and paintings throughout. Of special note are the cutaways of pirate sloops and galleys, and the dramatic art by the well-known artist Howard Pyle. The chapters are written by several different authors, each a specialist in a different area, and is woven into order by editor and maritime expert David Cordingly. Sidebar pictures also serve to spice up the already engrossing text, which covers the birth of piracy through current pirates. All things considered, this is a work which no pirate enthusiast should be without