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sozh's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating, thoroughly researched account of a largely forgotten time. Oh, and PIRATES! lots and lots of pirates.
buermann's review against another edition
3.0
Rather than a history of the Barbary pirates it is a history of English relations with the Barbary states, but it's quite good at being a history of what it's really a history of, title aside.
rschmidt7's review against another edition
4.0
Should have been titled "England vs. Barbary" instead, or even "1600s English Diplomacy on the African Coast," though I'm guessing that would have sold fewer copies. Still, overall, it was a fascinating and highly informative book about an often overlooked period in history. Tinniswood, the author, clearly has an overarching thesis - that the Barbary pirates are not regarded as roguish antiheroes like the Caribbean pirates, because Barbary is a land of nonwhite Muslims and therefore, has no Romantic appeal to Europeans - but he never belabors the point. Good book if you are interested in pirates, but be aware, a substantial portion of the book focuses on English maritime diplomacy.
pfmack's review against another edition
4.0
The title of this engrossing and well researched history of 17th century piracy is a little misleading due to the nature of piracy during this period. While the author does focus most of his research on the pirate activities of corsairs off the coast of North Africa, this work is really about the economic and military impact of piracy (or privateering depending on whose ships where attacked and who did the attacking). The economic impact of piracy was felt throughout Continental Europe and the British Isles. England, Spain, and the Dutch all felt the sting of the corsair fleets sailing out of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria and they all employed various tactics of intimidation, blockading, and appeasement. Tinniswood's research into the English response to the corsair attacks is particularly enlightening given the surprising proliferation of British citizens throughout the Mediterranean during this period. Many Englishmen, women, and children were sold into slavery after capture by Barbary pirates. Ironically, many of these unfortunate souls were captured and enslaved by their own countrymen who were pirates in the employ of the Corsairs. This interesting twist highlights the complexity of the Mediterranean world and international trade and commerce during the 17th century. Another strength of this work is Tinniswood's ability to place these events in social and cultural context as well. The corsair pirates were not just pirates to Europeans, they were non-Christian "others", aligned with the powerful Ottoman Empire whose goal it was believed, was to overthrow Christendom. This belief colored how the average European viewed Barbary pirates versus European pirates, and their sense of disbelief and betrayal when European pirates "turned Turk" and threw in their lot with the corsairs. It is this cultural study that really makes this book interesting.
nimeneth's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars. I agree with the other reviews that say this under-delivered an Anglocentric view of history (but what else is new). The author clearly did his research to get a lot of first-hand accounts packed in, but I went into this book expecting more info coming from the pirates themselves, or at least the governments supporting/supported by the pirates, but there was a disappointing lack of non-white, non-merchant interests.
poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
When you think of pirates you probably think of the the cliché Jack Sparrowesque Caribbean (or maybe modern day Somalian coast), I certainly did. However, piracy existed almost everywhere, and was a huge shaping force in Europe during the 1600s through to the early 1800s - especially in the Mediterranean.
Pirates of Barbary sets out an engaging set of tales, which weave together to build a vivid picture of the exploits of the European and Islamic sailors who terrorised the extremely profitable trade routes from east to west. Not that their piracy was limited to the Med - slaves were taken from Iceland, S.American gold caches were stolen off the coast of West Africa etc. Whilst covering most of Southern Europe, the northern trading power houses, Morocco and the Ottoman states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, the book is written largely from the English perspective - but it manages to give a balanced and realistic portrayal of the “Turks” (that historic catch all term for Muslims).
It’s not a full history, jumping about, offering selective limited analysis, very England centric (when it seems like Spain had the biggest relationship with North Africa “corsairs”), instead focusing on building narrative to bring the period to life. That said it’s not pop-history, and is detailed enough to make it a better option for dipping in a chapter at a time, opposed to a binge read. Some chapters are more engaging than others, bingeing can feel repetitive, but I think they are all worthwhile in building up an insight into how Christian-Muslim relations and colonialism developed around the Med. Would have liked to see more political analysis of the rampant hypocrisy on all sides, but appreciated is relative ease of read.
rimahsum's review
5.0
A great read!
It might be hard to believe, but this book and piracy, connects a lot of the missing dots of international relations between the Islamic and Christian Worlds.
Many of today's events stem from this conflict.
Many conceptions of pirates today are 'fake' - in a sense they are not Ho HO Ho people who look 100% like Jack Sparrow. Most of them are Muslims.
This being a narrative of a historical book, which makes reading engaging and easy, I would say it is a recommended reading for many people in this world, for youths, adults, and people from the other faiths.
It might be hard to believe, but this book and piracy, connects a lot of the missing dots of international relations between the Islamic and Christian Worlds.
Many of today's events stem from this conflict.
Many conceptions of pirates today are 'fake' - in a sense they are not Ho HO Ho people who look 100% like Jack Sparrow. Most of them are Muslims.
This being a narrative of a historical book, which makes reading engaging and easy, I would say it is a recommended reading for many people in this world, for youths, adults, and people from the other faiths.
selfwinding's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve been working my way through what pirate audiobooks are available at my local library. The Caribbean pirates are the ones I’m most familiar with (and that tend to inform our pop culture references), so I was interested to check out another era of piracy. The main things I’m looking for in these books are details of how the pirates lived, what technology they used, and the terms, jargon, and slang that fills their world. (Also, let’s be honest, I’m looking for character names.)
This book was a little less about the pirate life than some of the others I’ve read, and a little more chronologically confusing, but it did contain some interesting stories and I liked expanding my piracy knowledge beyond the Caribbean.
This book was a little less about the pirate life than some of the others I’ve read, and a little more chronologically confusing, but it did contain some interesting stories and I liked expanding my piracy knowledge beyond the Caribbean.