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A review by bahareads
Pillaging the Empire: Global Piracy on the High Seas, 1500-1750 by Robert M. Levine, Kris E. Lane, Kris Lane
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
I enjoyed Lane’s work. Pillaging the Empire had streamline narrative and short compact chapters. The range of information that Lane covers shows the extension of empire from different European powers. To see the extension illustrated with the theme of piracy was fascinating.
It provided a different lens that I have not previously thought about before; my knowledge of piracy being limited to the West Indies and more with the English narrative of late 1600s and early 1700s. I thought the personal profiles of the popular pirates like Henry Avery, Edward Teach, Ann Bonny, and Mary Reed were very surface level.
It was interesting to see a view of Woodes Rogers from a non-Bahamian focused lens. His story is mostly summed up on pages 196-197; but to link Rogers’ lack of wealth at the time of his death to fight against piracy is a bit erroneous to me. Rogers’ lack of wealth had more to do with his time in debtors’ prison, after his first tenure as Governour in The Bahamas, and his shared company’s lack of land sales and profit in The Bahamas.
Caribbean piracy played a crucial role in shaping the region by challenging European imperial control, fostering alternative economies, and influencing local governance. Pirate havens like Nassau, Tortuga, and Port Royal became thriving centres of trade, smuggling, and illicit commerce. Pirates disrupted Spanish treasure fleets, redistributed wealth, and created economic opportunities for local communities. For examples, Bahamian colonists generally welcomed pirates because of economic opportunities their presence brought, as well as the ability to help them wreck ships in The Bahamas’ shallow waters. Their defiance of colonial rule also influenced Caribbean identities, contributing to a particular narrative in the legacy of resistance, autonomy, and maritime culture.
The chapters are “condensed chronicle of pirates’ own exploits compiled from various sources but is focused on Spanish response” (4). He focuses more on empires, and their influence on the growth of piracy. He says the age of piracy coincided with European political and religious expansion (209). Lane leaves the legal, moral and psychological reflections up to the reader, but he does mention his own views in the preface
It provided a different lens that I have not previously thought about before; my knowledge of piracy being limited to the West Indies and more with the English narrative of late 1600s and early 1700s. I thought the personal profiles of the popular pirates like Henry Avery, Edward Teach, Ann Bonny, and Mary Reed were very surface level.
It was interesting to see a view of Woodes Rogers from a non-Bahamian focused lens. His story is mostly summed up on pages 196-197; but to link Rogers’ lack of wealth at the time of his death to fight against piracy is a bit erroneous to me. Rogers’ lack of wealth had more to do with his time in debtors’ prison, after his first tenure as Governour in The Bahamas, and his shared company’s lack of land sales and profit in The Bahamas.
Caribbean piracy played a crucial role in shaping the region by challenging European imperial control, fostering alternative economies, and influencing local governance. Pirate havens like Nassau, Tortuga, and Port Royal became thriving centres of trade, smuggling, and illicit commerce. Pirates disrupted Spanish treasure fleets, redistributed wealth, and created economic opportunities for local communities. For examples, Bahamian colonists generally welcomed pirates because of economic opportunities their presence brought, as well as the ability to help them wreck ships in The Bahamas’ shallow waters. Their defiance of colonial rule also influenced Caribbean identities, contributing to a particular narrative in the legacy of resistance, autonomy, and maritime culture.
The chapters are “condensed chronicle of pirates’ own exploits compiled from various sources but is focused on Spanish response” (4). He focuses more on empires, and their influence on the growth of piracy. He says the age of piracy coincided with European political and religious expansion (209). Lane leaves the legal, moral and psychological reflections up to the reader, but he does mention his own views in the preface