The Republic of Pirates

The Republic of Pirates is the true story of the Golden Age of Piracy. It is the tale of sailors who could not make an honest living--men who were treated unfairly and, as a consequence, chose to live under their own regimes after being pushed too far by the merchants and naval commanders under whom they served, often times against their wills and without pay or even decent means of sustenance.

The most interesting point illustrated in this book is the fact that pirates lived in a true republic. Pirate ships were countries governed by democratic laws. They sailed through a world that could not harness them or impose regulations upon them, in much the same way that the earth is full of social norms unaffected by the physical reactions occurring in the universe surrounding it. In this manner, pirates received fair treatment for the risks they were willing to take in attacking and plundering wealthy merchants:

"Damn them as a pack of crafty rascals. And you captains and seamen, who serve them, as a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls! They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference between us: they rob the poor under the cover of law . . . and we plunder the rich under the cover of our own courage." ~Sam Bellamy, Captain of the Wydah~

The Republic of Pirates neither vilifies nor glamorizes piracy but does a good job of realistically describing the life of pirates and the reasons that sailors abandoned legally sanctioned work to become pirates. In most cases, the reason was simple: Piracy offered fairness in a world that continually pushed sailors into unacceptable corners. Without consciously doing so, The Republic of Pirates illustrates that people are capable of tremendous feats when they truly believe they've hit rock bottom--whether it be rejection from a love interest, brutal treatment by superiors, or just the hopelessness engendered by hunger and a meager existence. The most interesting stories in the book, however, are of wealthy men who abandoned their estates and lives of leisure in order to pursue a romanticized vision of outlaw life on the sea.

If you like history and want to understand the broad context behind piracy, which includes the recent activity off the coast of Somalia where $100 million worth of oil and 25 hostages are currently under the control of pirates, then I highly recommend this book.