Pirates of the Caribbean Books Review

On Nov. 22, 1718, Edward Thatch, better known as Blackbeard, was killed in a bloody shipboard battle. His face slashed, his body rent by musket balls, he fought savagely until - and here surviving accounts of the battle diverge - he either succumbed to his many wounds or was felled by a single blow from a sword, which left his head dangling from his shoulder by a ribbon of flesh. Whether Blackbeard was decapitated in the heat of battle or only after death, in the cold administration of 18th-century punishment, justice had prevailed. His vanquishers - American sailors led by a dashing young lieutenant - lashed his head to their bowsprit for the journey home to Virginia, then hung their terrible prize from a pole on the banks of the Hampton River.

Skip to next paragraph EMPIRE OF BLUE WATER Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign.

By Stephan Talty.

332 pp. Crown Publishers. .95.

THE SACK OF PANAMÁ Captain Morgan and the Battle for the Caribbean.

By Peter Earle.

292 pp. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press. .95.

THE REPUBLIC OF PIRATES Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down.

By Colin Woodard.

383 pp. Harcourt. .

Related First Chapter: ‘Empire of Blue Water' (June 3, 2007) First Chapter: ‘The Sack of Panama' (June 3, 2007)

In its violence and drama, Blackbeard's death was emblematic of the so-called golden age of piracy - actually a period of unrestrained murder, robbery and kidnapping on the high seas. Although his reign as one of England's most feared pirates was brief, the memory of his black, braided beard, flashing sword and wild eyes has lived on, coloring the modern image of pirates. Already commemorated in literature, movies and music, the pirates of the golden age and their predecessors, the privateers of the 17th century, are now the subject of three new books - "Empire of Blue Water," "The Sack of Panamá" and "The Republic of Pirates" - each of which adds a new dimension to an era that was, in equal parts, thrilling and disturbing.

The story of piracy began, of course, many centuries before Blackbeard, when desperate men first realized they could find easy prey on the open sea, far beyond the reach of any authority. For most of history, unarmed merchant and passenger ships were on their own. The technology of seafaring had grown sophisticated enough to allow pirates to roam freely, but was too primitive for others to stop them. As a result, pirates terrorized ancient Greece, the Roman empire and the Qing Dynasty, and they kidnapped whomever they chose, from Julius Caesar to St. Patrick to Cervantes.

By the 17th century, pirates had become so dangerously effective that many were enlisted by governments to act as privateers, commissioned to attack the ships and colonies of rival nations. One of the most notable of these, Capt. Henry Morgan, a predecessor to Blackbeard, had an uncanny ability to sack Spanish outposts, generating deep-seated fear throughout the Americas. So fascinating and complex was Morgan that both "Empire of Blue Water" and "The Sack of Panamá" largely focus on his life as a privateer, which had its climax in the famous attack on Panama in 1671. As similar as the books are in subject matter, however, they differ significantly in approach.

Stephen Talty, the author of "Mulatto America," keeps "Empire of Blue Water" moving at a fast clip. Its characters leap to life in a swashbuckling adventure story one expects from a book about privateers. It's marred only by Talty's creation of a composite character. In an effort to "profile a typical pirate/privateer," he invents "Roderick" and inserts him at pivotal moments in the narrative. The result is not a deeper immersion in the story, but periodic, jolting reminders that the author has introduced an element of fiction.

"The Sack of Panamá," by Peter Earle, moves at a slower pace, at least in its initial chapters, but offers a more analytical and detailed discussion of the battle. Earle, the author of "The Pirate Wars," also takes a close look at the Spanish side of the story - not just the general fears of King Philip IV, but the specific trials of the president of Panama, Don Juan Perez de Guzmán, who was handed the nearly impossible task of defending the isthmus against Captain Morgan and his terrifying band.

When Morgan sailed the seas, Spain ruled the Americas - and relied heavily on the gold, silver and other treasures it extracted from its colonies. The Americas were, as Talty puts it, "a place of gobsmacking riches," and England wanted a larger share. It was important, however, to maintain at least the pretense of peaceful intentions, so the British crown allowed privateers to do its dirty work. Its commissions entitled, and encouraged, privateers to "attaque, fight with or surprise any vessell or vessells whatsoever belonging to the King of Spain or any of his subjects." At the same time, understanding that there was no honor among thieves, the commissions banned the privateers, "upon pain of death without mercy," from interfering with British ships.

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Candice Millard is the author of "The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey."

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