Just A word of caution
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Can't disagree with either of other two reviews. An easy introduction to Pirates mostly in the Caribbean. The word of caution is that the text of this book is exactly the same as "Pirates : An Illustrated History" by the same author. So you can take your pick as to which version you want.
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cawtorne's pirates
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This study produces no new information on early-modern piracy, and its arrangement of topics is not particularly innovative, but for the absolute newcomer to the topic there are few books as simple and accessable. An abundance of spelling errors and a short bibliography hints how quickly the book was thrown together. Nevertheless, it covers the basic areas concerning ships, weapons, and so on that most people imagine when considering the contents of a book on piracy. A worthwhile read by an author who writes in a clear and readable fashion, but for anyone more interested in a different type of history than Cawtorne's (if that is indeed his real name, which i doubt) simple chapter headings, books by David Cordingley or Marcus Redicker may prove much more fun.
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Join up the dots naval history
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Not what I expected: I'm not even sure what I expected but it wasn't this; an erudite explanation of everything piratey, matey. I have read most of the Dudley Pope, Alexander Kent series, and odd volumes of the rest of the naval crew. This book explained the ships, the rigging, the terminology and the historical background to all the saltwater tales of both pirates and navy. It was the book that I had needed to read a long time ago. I will read this again, just for interest and general knowledge and dip into whenever I get around to rereading the Ramage, Bolitho etc collections. This book explains all the details they leave out. Much much better than the cover and title suggest.
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