Blackbeard's Pirateworld: Cut-throats of the Caribbean

This large format glossy book covers piracy in all its gruesome details with lots of very dramatic illustrations, some photographic, some reproduced on ‘parchment’ paper.  The text concentrates on the dastardly deeds carried out by named pirates, Blackbeard foremost among them, but others include Bartholomew Roberts and Edward Low.  Blackbeard’s name was in fact Edward Teach according to this text, possibly an ancestor of this book’s author William Teach.

In five chapters the text covers Blackbeard’s world, roughly in the years 1690–1730. There is a double page spread of his gruesome flag – a skeleton with an hour glass about to impale a blood red heart.  The chapter covering sailing the high seas describes the type of ships used and life aboard the pirate vessels, complete with monkey, surgery at sea and so on. Other chapters cover punishments aboard, how pirates attacked and Blackbeard’s treasure.

There are many books covering pirates to satisfy the need for bloodthirsty tales.  This one is particularly lavishly produced but at £14.99 in this credit crunch world it may find limited purchasers.