Empire of Blue Water

February 5, 2007
Journalist Talty (Mulatto America
) entertainingly chronicles the life of legendary privateer Capt. Henry Morgan and his crucial role in challenging Spain's hegemony in the New World in this informative popular history. Seeking his fortune, Welshman Morgan arrived in the Caribbean just as British King Charles II decided to challenge Spain by using pirates "as a stick with which to beat ." Morgan accepted a privateer's commission from the British—in effect, a license to steal—and set out in 1661 to make his fortune. Smart and charismatic, Morgan quickly rose to the rank of captain and became "fabulously rich." His attack on the Spanish stronghold at Portobelo "showed the world that the empire was vulnerable," and his raid on the city of Panama—the "greatest raid in the history of buccaneering"—forced "the Spanish to renounce their exclusive rights to the New World." Charles II knighted Morgan and appointed him deputy governor of Jamaica, a position that tasked him—"the greatest of the buccaneers"—with exterminating piracy. Morgan died of the effects of alcohol abuse in 1688 at 53. Talty strips away the legend to recreate a pivotal era in this accessible portrait of the pirates of the Caribbean.

Starred review from July 30, 2007
Henry Morgan was a Welsh-born sailor who traveled to the Caribbean as a privateer—a “licensed marauder of the sea”—on behalf of the British Empire. But before his career was over, he had become one of the most notorious pirates ever to sail the Spanish Main. Talty focuses the story on Morgan's most exciting exploits, including the tale of what is perhaps Morgan's most infamous act: the unauthorized sacking of Panama. Mayer reads in a rich, resonant voice; it's perfectly suited to the grim and gritty subject matter, and would not be out of place narrating a History Channel documentary. The abridgment is flawless; the listener would never know this production was abridged if not for the cover copy. The only legitimate complaint to make is that this audio was abridged at all—Mayer and Talty could have kept listeners enthralled for an audiobook at twice the length. Filled with riveting and astonishing details, this audio satisfies on every level, sure to please not only serious scholars but casual fans of pirate lore as well. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 5).

April 1, 2007
Sensational subtitles notwithstanding, Henry Morgan (c.1635-88) was a legal bearer of English commissions to engage in commerce raiding against Spanish shipping in the southern Caribbean. As both of these works make clear, his exploits were extensions of conflict in Europe, not mere outlawry. Talty ("Mulatto America") follows Morgan's career from his origins in Wales to his death as a corpulent, respectable planter in Jamaica. On the other hand, real piracy was rife in the Americas during the 17th century, and the line between privateer (i.e., Morgan) and pirate depended on where one stood. Talty tells a stirring tale, often using an imaginary crewman, Roderick, who sails with Morgan, fights for loot, drinks it away, and generally exemplifies the rough-and-ready ethos of the richest and most sinful city in the Americas, Port Royal, Jamaica, whose destruction by earthquake and tsunami in 1692 is given a chapter.

Earle (economic history, emeritus, Univ. of London; "The Pirate Wars") tells largely the same tale using many of the same sources although far more scrupulously and with no recourse to imaginary characters. His story is a little more academic in tone but manages to imbue the remarkable events with a considerable degree of immediacy. He dwells little on Morgan's biography and stops with his sack of Panama in 1671. Both authors refer to the remarkably democratic relationships among the "Brethren" (a term applicable to both privateers and pirates), in which leaders were elected and shares paid out on the basis of negotiated qualifications (grenadiers were paid extra for each bomb they threw; loss of limb was to be compensated). Given the recent pirate buzz, public libraries might be well advised to buy both. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 12/06, for Talty's book.]Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2007
Before he became rum, Cap'n Morgan humbled the Spanish Empire. Part swashbuckling pirate, part aristocratic wannabe Henry Morgan blended his desire for adventure and wealth into an innovative military approach. English greed and rugged individualism could defeat Spanish monarchical bureaucracy. Talty illustrates the lures that drew free spirits from the Old World and into the new. Port Royal, Jamaica, serving as the seventeenth-century's sin city, offered all the vices a young rogue craved, plus the pirate excursions to fund his debaucheries. Talty's well-researched account weaves together myriad political and financial interests in the New World. From the young rogue in search of wealth and a good time to the British monarchy looking for a cheap way to defeat the Spanish (and finding that champion in the young pirate), the pirate's ferocity and depravity became known and feared. Morgan succeeded, where most could not, in straddling dual roles. He stood as the vital force in British military cunning and success, and did so as a feared yet respected pirate.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)