Pirates Of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the 17th-Century Mediterranean - Hardcover

Tinniswood, Adrian

3.64

564 ratings by Goodreads

9780224085267: Pirates Of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the 17th-Century Mediterranean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0224085263 ISBN 13: 9780224085267

Publisher: Jonathan Cape, 2010

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Pirates of Barbary is an extraordinary record of the European renegades and Islamic sea-rovers who terrorised the Mediterranean and beyond throughout the seventeenth century. From the coast of Southern Europe to Morocco and the Ottoman states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Christian and Muslim seafarers met in bustling ports to swap religions, to battle and to trade goods and slaves - raiding as far as Iceland and New England in search of their human currency. Studying the origins of these men, their culture and practices - from pirate etiquette to intimidation tactics - Adrian Tinniswood expertly recreates the twilight world of the corsairs in fascinating detail, and uncovers a truly remarkable clash of civilisations.

Pirates of Barbary draws on an incredible wealth of material, from furious royal proclamations to the private letters of pirates and their victims, as well as recent Islamic accounts to provide a new perspective on the corsairs, both as criminals and as devout warriors engaged in a battle against European incursions. The result is a kaleidoscopic image of a wild and exotic people, place and time, and a fascinating insight into what it meant to sacrifice all you have for a life so violent, so uncertain, and so alien that it set you apart from the rest of mankind.

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Review:

`Tinniswood is a masterly writer of history with a gift for slamming his readers into the thick of the action.' -- Literary Review

'This rollicking book unpicks a confusion of names, dates and places to produce a fascinating history of seaborne conflict.' --Telegrpah: Review

'Tinniswood narrates this story with brio and bravura, displaying an excellent eye for the theatrical detail and juicy episode.'
--BBC History Magazine

"Tinniswood's absorbing book is packed with bad characters, big fights and breathless chases." --Daily Mail

`skilfully evokes the dread that corsairs aroused.'
-- FT

Tinniswood's artful blend of narrative and analysis brings the pirates' society to life. -- Spectator, Books, Blair Worden

`North African pirates were the scourge of the 17th century, and plundered as far as Cornwall. Tinniswood tells their story with verve' --The Telegraph

Book Description:

The incredible, action-packed secret history of Barbary Coast piracy in the 17th century, by the author of the acclaimed The Verneys

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