Frank Sherry - Raiders and Rebels. A History of the Golden Age of Piracy [2008] [A]

Raiders and Rebels is a rich and vivid account of the golden age of piracy. From 1692 to 1725 pirates sailed the oceans of the world, terrorizing seamen and plundering ships laden with the riches of India, Africa, South America and the Caribbean. Beneath these well known facts lies the true story of pirates. They were common men and women escaping the social and economic restrictions of 18th-century Europe. Their activities threatened the beginnings of world trade and jeopardized the economic security of several European nations even as they formed one of the first true democracies in the world.

Most Helpful Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars Glad this classic is still around! 1 Dec 2008
By Scott Chamberlain - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I first ran across this book when it came out in the mid-80s, and for me, no other intro book into piracy quite matches up.
Sherry has excellent command of the relatively few first-person accounts out there and uses them to great effect. The coverage leans toward the cultural, giving the reader a clear understanding of the reasons why people would choose to "go on account"--and what life was like once they took up piracy. Sherry in particular makes the argument that in during the rigid, hierarchical era of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, pirate bands offered a type of proto-democracy and self-determination that helped create sympathy for the pirates back in the day, and has remained one of the key elements of their romantic image today.
Relative to other similar histories like Cordingly's "Under the Black Flag," Sherry's account seems more vividly written, and I would say tells a more coherent story with a bit more of a narrative story arc. Both books, however, are great and should readily appeal to armchair sailors or historians.
Is this the most scholarly treatment of piracy? Maybe not, but I've lent this book to many friends and relatives--and fellow Latin American historians--and it has always been a big hit. Great read.