Slash’s book list as of 10/25/1711

Slash’s book list as of 10/25/1711

I humbly recommend the following as worthy reading for all who seek to remember, understand, and recreate American nautical history and the Golden Age of Piracy (and concur with Cap’n Vane that Republic of Pirates is an excellent first choice).

Y’r ob’t s’v’t,
/ (his mark)
President of Vice
RH
==============

The Sea Rover’s Practice by (former Navy SEAL officer) Benerson Little. A field manual for anyone who would be an, ahem, alternative maritime entrepreneur, whether legal or not so much. Weapons, tactics, vessels, and business plans for the sea rover.


Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates by Robert Ritchie. A scholarly yet lively account of possibly the most misunderstood “pirate” in history. A detailed study of the politics and the fuzzy and shifting line between pirates and pirate hunters.


The Only Life That Mattered by James L. Nelson. Fictionalized story of late-Golden-Age Caribbean pirate shipmates “Calico Jack” Rackham, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read.


Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution by Robert H. Patton. When the Continental Congress could barely support a Navy, hundreds of privateers filled the gap, capturing hundreds of British merchant ships and diverting the Royal Navy from supporting the land war.


Brethren of the Coast trilogy by James L. Nelson. Adventures of a Virginia planter with a shadowed past. Gripping, well-written, nautically and historically correct stories from this former tall-ship officer.

1. The Guardship.
2. The Blackbirder.
3. The Pirate Round.


Revolution at Sea Saga by James L. Nelson. Five novels following the career of smuggler-turned-privateer-turned-naval-officer Isaac Biddlecomb. Features cameo appearances by George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin (complete with onboard lightning rod). Climaxes on the Delaware River as Philadelphia is overrun by the British.

1. By Force of Arms.
2. The Maddest Idea.
3. The Continental Risque.
4. Lords of the Ocean.
5. All the Brave Fellows.


Expedition Whydah: The Story of the World's First Excavation of a Pirate Treasure Ship and the Man Who Found Her by Barry Clifford and Paul Perry. The story of underwater archaeologist Clifford’s discovery of Sam Bellamy’s Whydah and the first-ever successful recovery of a pirate shipwreck and treasure.


Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship by Barry Clifford.
Whydah salvor Clifford brings the day-to-day life of a pirate to light in this kid-friendly book. (John King, the youngest member of the Whydah’s company, was only 9 years old when he ran from his mother aboard one of Bellamy’s prizes and joined the crew. Worse luck for him, he died with the rest when the Whydah piled up on that sandbar off Cape Cod.)


Shanties from the Seven Seas by Stan Hugill. Sea shanties were songs used to keep the proper rhythm and unity in shipboard work. Hugill, the last working shantyman aboard a British square-rigger, explores the history and evolution of hundreds of shanties. BAD LANGUAGE WARNING (there isn’t enough): As a shantyman (?) who strives for authenticity, I lament the fact that Hugill cleaned up most of the bawdy or obscene language found in period shanties; our culture is the poorer for it! But aside from that, this book is a must-have for lovers of sea music.


The Arts of the Sailor: Knotting, Splicing and Ropework by Hervey Garrett Smith. A compact guide to marlinspike seamanship; fits in a ditty bag.


The Ditty Bag Book by Frank Rosenow. What’s a ditty bag? Read this book and find out. A guide to tools and techniques of the old-fashioned sailor’s trade. Also, as you might guess, it also fits in a ditty bag.


Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings: How to Build and Use 18 Traditional Navigational Instruments by Dennis Fisher. You too can be a navigator. Learn how sailors found their way in the days before GPS, and build the instruments yourself. I learned everything I know about the Al-Kamal (an ancient Arabic weapon of math instruction) from this book.


More later.