Global Piracy: A Documentary History of Seaborne Banditry by James E. Wadsworth

Abstract

Reviewed by: Global Piracy: A Documentary History of Seaborne Banditry by James E. Wadsworth Arne Bialuschewski Wadsworth, James E. – Global Piracy: A Documentary History of Seaborne Banditry. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. Pp. 328. The study of pirates has generated enormous interest in recent years. Many universities are offering courses on the history of piracy, and the book market seems to be thriving. Getting access to primary sources has proved a challenge, however, and anthologies of previously unpublished material are rare. James Wadsworth, a professor of history at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, has published a new book that promises to provide an outline of global piracy. The author writes that he teaches a first-year course on global piracy, and a lack of available sources prompted him to write this book. His work covers a wide range of topics. There are chapters on ancient piracy in the Mediterranean, the Vikings, Asian piracy at various stages, the seventeenth-century Caribbean, the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, and four of the 16 chapters are on modern-day pirates. This is a truly global coverage of more than two thousand years of seaborne predations. All chapters have a lengthy overview followed by three or four primary sources exclusively transcribed from published works. The book also has a number of [End Page 716] useful maps, images, a glossary of terms, suggested questions for discussion in the classroom, and a selected bibliography. Over the years Wadsworth must have amassed considerable expertise on piracy, even though it appears that he has never undertaken any original research in this field. The overviews show that the author does not fall into the trap of romanticizing this form of violent crime, and the selection of primary sources by and large helps to illustrate many characteristics of piracy. The inclusion of various raiders who, judged by legal standards, were not pirates may help to provoke discussions about a workable definition of piracy. The book also overcomes a Eurocentric focus that runs through much of the historiography of early modern piracy. Unfortunately, the treatment of Caribbean piracy—unquestionably the source of most legends and myths—is a bit thin, and the chapter on the infamous buccaneers contains a few errors. The name of these freebooters, for example, is derived from the Tupi-Guarani term mukem, not from the Taino language. The idea that buccaneers seized Spanish vessels, threw the crews overboard, and sailed away, as asserted by Wadsworth, does not reflect the historical reality. Buccaneers were essentially land forces that used watercraft to inflict amphibious warfare on colonial towns in the Spanish empire. These raiding gangs often relied upon support from native groups. This is shown in the description of the 1680 Portobelo raid in this book. However, the source introduction, as well as so many others, is very scant and barely explains the specific historical context of the source. To illustrate the history of the buccaneers, Wadsworth also recites the story of Pierre Le Grand, of whom nothing else is known other than what Alexandre-Olivier Exquemelin wrote in his book on the Americaensche Zee-Roovers, published in 1678. He presumably heard this story in Tortuga in 1666 or 1667. However, this remarkable narrative is full of contradictions and the fact that no corroborating sources seem to survive in the archives should make every historian very cautious. Presenting this text as an example of the problematic nature of so many sources would have been fine, but students should not take this as a typical example of buccaneering activity. Wadsworth's ambitious book is certainly a valuable contribution to the growing body of pirate publications. The wide scope of the chapters is laudable, and the author handles the many challenges involved reasonably well. Small flaws should not distract readers from gaining valuable insights into one of the most fascinating and intriguing chapters in maritime history. [End Page 717] Arne Bialuschewski Trent University Copyright © 2020 Histoire sociale / Social History