AOS Other Non-Fiction
There are many books written about Merchant Ships, Clippers, Whalers etc. from the Age of Sail. This section lists some of them. If you are interested in purchasing any, and direct links are not provided from the book, please visit and search the online stores.
Pirates Of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the 17th-Century Mediterranean
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Adrian Tinniswood
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.
Off Soundings: Aspects of the Maritime History of Rhode Island
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Alexander Boyd Hawes
Off Soundings: Aspects of the Maritime History of Rhode Island, a work of substantial scholarship, is a fascinating narrative by the late Alexander Boyd Hawes, an adoptive Rhode Islander. A richly illustrated historical survey of the colony and state throughout the age of sail, it is "a very useful and important contribution to the field of maritime history, and to Rhode Island history in particular," writes Naval War College Professor John M. Hattendorf in his introduction. The book will be read and used to great advantage in Rhode Island."
Piracy: The Complete History
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Angus Konstam
When we think of pirates we conjure up images of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, or even fictional pirates such as Long John Silver, Captain Hook and Captain Jack Sparrow. These historical characters all hailed from one period. Known as "The Golden Age of Piracy", this period only lasted around a quarter of a century - from around 1700 until 1725. However, piracy has been around a lot longer than that. In fact ever since people started venturing onto the sea, others were waiting to waylay them.
Pirate expert Angus Konstam sails through the brutal history of piracy, from the pirates who plagued the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans to the Viking raids on northern Europe through the golden age of piracy and on to the era of privateers who flourished during a period of constant warring on the European continent. He then examines the West's initial encounters with Eastern pirates off the Chinese coast whose confederations had sprung up in the 17th century and whose actions were severely hampering the West by the 19th century. Finally Konstam examines the phenomenon of the modern pirate, preying on modern super tankers. The reality of piracy is that it is a vicious, often deadly business. By separating the realities of piracy from the Hollywood-inspired fiction, and by tracing the development of piracy through the centuries, this book gives a realistic vision of what piracy actually involves.
Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Angus Konstam
Drawing on vivid descriptions of Blackbeard's attacks from his rare surviving victims, pirate expert Angus Konstam traces Blackbeard's career from its beginnings to his final defeat in a tremendous sea battle near his base at Ocracoke Island. Presenting dramatic accounts of the pirate's very effective tactics and his reputation for cruelty, Konstam offers a fascinating examination of the life and business of piracy and the lure of this brutal and bloody trade.
The History of Pirates
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Angus Konstam
Piracy flourished in the early 18th century, producing many of the buccaneers whose legendary names have gripped our imaginations: Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Bartholomew Roberts, to name a few. Yet piracy on the high seas existed long before Blackbeard''s name struck terror in the hearts of merchant seamen - Julius Caesar was captured by pirates - and it remains a problem today. Modern pirates regularly attack vessels sailing through the South China Sea. The History of Pirates traces piracy from the seas of antiquity to the New World and beyond.
It represents a thorough, authoritative, and memorable portrait of the fascinating world of pirates. Detailed maps bear vivid testimony to the far-ranging exploits of these capricious, often charismatic, and frequently bloodthirsty robbers of the high seas.
Privateers and Pirates 1730-1830
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- AOS Other Non-Fiction
- By Angus Konstam
Following the pirate scourge of the early 18th century, sea captains took to privateering as a means of making money. A form of nationally sponsored piracy, it reached its peak during the American Revolution, with the fledgling American navy relying on privateers to disrupt British shipping between England and the rebellious colonies. It details the privateer captains of the golden age of "state-sponsored piracy" - men such as John Paul Jones, Jean Lafitte, and Benito de Soto. It includes episodes such as Bonhomme Richard's epic battle with HMS Serapis