The prize game
Subtitle: lawful looting on the high seas in the days of fighting sail
By: Donald A. Petrie.
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Annapolis, Md
Language: eng
Number of pages: 217
Subjects: Prize law -- History.; Privateering -- History.; Capture at sea -- History.
Description: "To stimulate the growth and ardor of their fleets, the monarchs of Renaissance Europe offered the crews of their naval vessels and licensed privateers a chance to get rich by plundering enemy ships and cargoes. These actions gave rise to the doctrine and practice of maritime prize - a subject little studied but regularly referred to by C. S. Forester, Patrick O'Brian, and other popular writers about the era. Now, after a decade of research in European and American archives, Donald A.

Petrie explains the origins of prize taking, the rules of the sea that became universally accepted among the maritime powers of the world, and the final decline of prize taking during the nineteenth century."--BOOK JACKET. "Most of the book is devoted to rollicking, never-before-published sea stories about this form of looting that helped define the last century of fighting sail."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-207) and index.