Pirates of Barbary
Subtitle: corsairs, conquests, and captivity in the seventeenth-century Mediterranean
By: Adrian Tinniswood
Edition: 1st American ed.
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 343
ISBN-13: 9781594487743
Subjects: Pirates; History
Description: It's easy to think of piracy as a romantic way of life long gone--if not for today's headlines of robbery and kidnapping on the high seas. Pirates have existed since the invention of commerce itself, but they reached the zenith of their power during the 1600s, when the Mediterranean was the crossroads of the world, and pirates were the scourge of Europe and the glory of Islam. They attacked ships, enslaved crews, plundered cargoes, enraged governments, and swayed empires. Historian Adrian Tinniswood brings alive this chapter in history, where clashes between pirates of the East--Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli--and governments of the West--England, France, Spain, and Venice--grew increasingly intense and dangerous, and he shows how their maneuverings between the Muslim empires and Christian Europe shed light on the religious and moral battles that still rage today.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [325]-333) and index.
Table of contents: title: Prosperity at sea : the Mediterranean world; title: Where are the days? : the making of a pirate; title: Hellfire is prepared : turning Turk on the Barbary Coast; title: The land hath far too little ground : Danseker the Dutchman; title: Your majesty's new creature : pardons and pragmatism under James I; title: Rich caskets of home-spun valour : fighting back against the pirates; title: Treacherous intents : the English send a fleet against Algiers; title: Fishers of men : the sack of Baltimore; title: Woeful slavery : William Rainborow's 1637 expedition to Morocco; title: The yoke of bondage : a slave's story; title: Deliverance : the liberation of Barbary captives; title: The greatest scourge to the Algerines : the occupation of Tangiers; title: Breaches of faith : making peace with Barbary; title: No part of England : the evacuation of Tangiers; title: The king's agent : life in late-seventeenth century Tripoli; title: The last corsair : colonialism, conquest, and the end of the Barbary pirates.