A review by poorlywordedbookreviews
Pirates of Barbary by Adrian Tinniswood

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.