The Anglo-Saxons

ausgezeichnet

Absolutely amazing book, from start to finish. Brilliant.

Enemies of All

schlecht

I was excited by the book and bought it at the end of 2024. Unfortunately, this book is not written in a way that will excite the reader, which is somewhat of a surprise considering we are talking about ... Pirates. This is a shame, because it is clear that the author has put a lot of effort and thought into writing this book (which is rich in detail). However, too many paragraphs throughout the book are focused on a tremendous amount of small details and names of people never to be seen or heard from again, indicating that the important information conveyed to the reader (e.g., shift towards landholding plantation owners, influence of European wars, religion, the importance of distance between colonies and the centers of power/decision, defining who is a pirate,...) could have been distilled in a more effective manner. Also, chapters jump suddenly around, from Jamaica, to some (short) sections on Ireland, to short parts on the Indian Ocean and back to the Caribbean, whilst moving from the 1600s to the 1500s and forwards again. The basic maps could have been used to effectively show where the pirates roamed and during what decades/centuries, instead of simply showing names of cities. The story of piracy, from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean is therefore lost to the reader and in many cases nonexistent. I would suggest to listen to the Empire Podcast with William Dalrymple and Anita Anand instead, as well as books that emphasize the history of shipping and trade and which better convey the history of seafaring and exploration such as “A splendid Exchange”, by W. Bernstein and "The Boundless Sea" by D. Abdulafia.