
The Real History of Pirates
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Narrated by:
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Professor Manushag N. Powell
There’s an apocryphal story that Alexander the Great once captured a notorious pirate named Diomedes. The great conqueror decided to interview the doomed pirate, asking him what he thought gave him the right to seize the property of other people. The pirate responded by asking the emperor what he thought gave him the right to take property that doesn’t belong to him, including entire countries. The story goes that Alexander thought the pirate very clever, granting him freedom instead of execution.
Other than scale, what is the difference between a pirate and the vast armies of an emperor? Or between a pirate and the great navy of a queen? Were the men who famously traversed the Atlantic actually the heroic explorers we imagined them to be - or were they...pirates? During the early years of what would be known as the Age of Sail, these explorers included Sirs Francis Drake, John Hawkins, and Walter Ralegh.
In The Real History of Pirates, you’ll find yourself looking at world history from a new point of view, realizing that much of what you’ve learned before could - and possibly should - be viewed through a more appropriate post-imperialistic filter. Your course professor, Manushag N. Powell, an award-winning Professor of English at Purdue University, will expose you to new ways of thinking about global interactions from the West Indies to the Red Sea, from the North Atlantic to Indonesia. You’ll learn what causes piracy, why it still flourishes today, why some pirates even had the backing of a well-established government, and why women sometimes wielded the real power behind the scenes in an enterprise conducted almost exclusively by men.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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I am very happy with this, learned so much from a writers perspective and it accomplished exactly what I needed.
A lot of poorer rating reviews of this are addressing the professor emphasizing misogyny, white supremacy and other social issues as a bad thing, but those were super welcome to me so that it tells us that she understands her subject and the forces at play. Piracy was rampant with misogyny, racism and white supremacy (as the real world is today and people getting mad over this feels like it’s uncomfortable for them to listen to that but this is really what happens in the real world so) and I am so glad she did not overlook this, particularly as someone writing a pirate fantasy primarily driven by people of color. She did a very good job not overlooking how colonialism (again, rife with racism, misogyny and white supremacy in general) played a part in real world piracy. I’m so glad she emphasized this and it made me feel like me like “yes, this is someone who isn’t talking from the singular perspective of an old white dude who doesn’t think those social issues are paramount to history.”
They should always be talked about so I’m glad she doubled down on How Big they were in this subject. Great job. The poorer reviews complaining about this are honestly silly and not very credible in my opinion.
I also liked her tone of voice. Didn’t feel boring to listen to. That’s subjective though. I Highly recommend this for people who want to get a thorough run down of how to write pirates.
I ironically PRECISELY What I Wanted and Was Looking For: A Lecture About piracy, what causes it and NOT a Historical Timeline.
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really Interesting
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quite good and a learning experience
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that said, the historical research is interesting and seems well-researched. topics of daily life, economic concerns, and geo-politics are insightful.
Good info, presentation needs work
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I thought this could be a more enjoyable theme to hear, and I do blame it on my childhood, specially with the Muppets movie. Sadly, this lecturer has a poor sense of humour and makes light talk on the worst possible sombre momments.
PS: I’m portuguese. “Ladrones” is not a portuguese word, at least nowadays, it only exists in spanish. This and other small things make me guess that the facts about portuguese and spanish people are sometimes mixed in this course. I’m guessing the old british sources and translations can have mistakes about it, and it’s not the lecturer’s fault, But what about checking with a portuguese/spanish historian before lecturing about it?
A very cynic perspective
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I really wanted to like this…
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That being said, if you have an understanding of the main pirate eras and historical figures, this course will answer a lot of questions you may have. It does a great job of breaking down fact vs fiction, and helps cleanse your mind of the romanticism often embraced by us pirate enthusiasts.
If you just want an overview of the Golden Age of Piracy, listen to The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard.
If you wish to embark on a deep dive into pirate history, I recommend In Search of a Kingdom by Bergreen (Francis Drake), Empire of the Blue Water by Talty (Captain Morgan), The Republic of Pirates by Woodard (Golden Age, Blackbeard included), and this course, The Real History of Pirates by Powell (general discussion), in that order.
Not an intro, but some interesting perspective
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A Bit Difficult to Follow
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Inaudible but a great subject well written
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A+
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