HISTORY:
** In April 1713 the War of the Spanish Succession came to an end. During the conflict hundreds of privateers – licenced pirates – preyed on enemy shipping throughout the Caribbean. These privateers now found themselves out of a job, and many turned to piracy. One of theme was Edward Teach – more popularly known as “Blackbeard”. He joined the pirates in New Providence (now Nassau) in the Bahamas, and by early 1717 he had become a pirate captain. From then on he caused havoc off the North American seaboard, in the West Indies and off Honduras, before appearing off Charleston, South Carolina in May 1718. He blockaded this major port for a week, an act that made Blackbeard the most notorious pirate of his day. **
** Quoted from the Osprey Publishing website.
THE BOOK:
Osprey Publications has released Blackbeard’s Last Fight, Pirate Hunting in North Carolina 1718 as Number 37 in their Raid series. It is a soft cover book with 80 pages and is the standard Osprey Publishing size of 7 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs, full color illustrations, a 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-view’, full color maps, detailed captions and more. It has a 2013 copyright, a publication date of June 20, 2013, and the ISBN is 978-1-7809-6195-8.
THE CONTENTS:
Introduction
Origins
- The making of Blackbeard
- Blackbeard’s cruise
The Plan
- Countering the pirate threat
The Raid
- Attacking the viper’s nest
- The battle of Ocracoke Island
- To Bath Town
Aftermath and Analysis
- Trial and punishment
- Analysis
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
THE TEXT:
Author Angus Konstam has written an excellent history about Edward “Blackbeard” Teach and his history from the beginning to the end of his reign as a pirate captain. The text goes into very specific detail in all areas of the book as outlined on the contents page, please refer to the contents listing that I have provided for the subjects that are covered throughout the book. The author details and discusses various subject matters such as the plan to counter piracy to protect the ships, crews and cargo that the pirates were preying upon. Various key individuals are discussed and their pasts and their rise to their positions and titles during the period are detailed. The main portion of the book is dedicated to the final actions of Edward “Blackbeard” Teach and his eventual death and the aftermath of his final conflict. The author does an excellent job of providing researched facts which helps to eliminate incorrect information that has been given over time due to misconceptions created by such things as period illustrations that were done by artists who had taken creative liberties as well as various movies and television programs which helped create inaccuracies and myths of the era. Along with his own words, Angus Konstam has also provided quotes from key individuals such as Lieutenant Robert Maynard, Captain Charles Johnson, and excerpts from articles of various newspapers of the period such as the Boston News Letter and the British Gazetteer. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference and history book on the Golden Age of Piracy, and more specifically, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach to their personal library will be pleased with this very informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 21 black and white photographs and 18 color photographs are included in this volume. Author Angus Konstam stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject. Some of the photographs are of period drawings and paintings and provide the reader with details of period weapons and clothing. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be a wealth of information to the pirate and nautical enthusiast and the scale figure and ship modeler due to the details they contain. Some of the period images are obviously not always in scale and 100% accurate as to specific actions but I personally feel that they still do their job of providing information as there was obviously no photography equipment of any type during that period of history. So obviously, artists were free to use artistic interpretation when they created their paintings and illustrations. The photographs will prove to be of interest anyone interested in the Golden Age of Piracy and more specifically, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, due to the details they contain.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are 2 color illustrations included in the volume. The illustrations are very well done, nicely detailed and are of:
Plate A
Blackbeard’s last fight off Ocracoke, 22 November 1718
- A two-page full color action illustration showing Blackbeard and his crew of the Adventure after they have come alongside the Jane and have thrown grenades in preparation of boarding the British ship.
Plate B
The pirate hunters’ entry into Bath Town, 1718
- A two-page full color action illustration showing British Captain Ellis Brand’s column, made up of British sailors from the frigates HMS Pearl and HMS Lyme, and members of the Virginia militia, entering Bath Town, North Carolina on Sunday, November 24, 1718, to begin rounding up anyone suspected of being a pirate.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail, eliminating any doubt as to what is shown. The captions go into very specific detail as to the names of specific individuals shown, military rank or civilian title, ship types and names, weapon types, inaccuracies shown in illustrations, dates and locations and other such pertinent information. Angus Konstam’s captions are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
THE MAPS:
There are two full-colored maps by Bounford.com included in this volume. The maps both come with a map/cartographic distance scale. The maps are of:
- The Atlantic Seaboard of Colonial North America, as it appeared in 1718.
- The Southern Outer banks and Pamlico Sound, North Carolina Colony, 1718.
THE 3D BIRDS-EYE-VIEW:
There is one 3-dimensional ‘bird’s-eye-view’ by Paul Kime included in this volume. The ‘bird’s-eye-view’ comes with an extremely informative caption, a well detailed key as well as a listing of eleven specific events in chronological order with corresponding numbers on the illustration showing where the events took place. The ‘bird’s-eye-view’ is of:
- The Battle of Ocracoke, 22 November 1718
CONCLUSION:
As with the other Osprey Publishing titles I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains a well written informative text, many subject specific photographs and illustrations, well detailed captions and more, all detailing Edward “Blackbeard” Teach and other key figures in 1718 during the Golden Age of Piracy. As with the other Osprey Publishing titles, I have no hesitation recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal reference library.
Osprey Publishing also offers Blackbeard’s Last Fight, Pirate Hunting in North Carolina 1718 as:
Ebook (Epub & Mobi) ISBN: 978-1-7809-6197-2
and
Ebook (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-7809-6196-5
Osprey Publishing’s, Blackbeard’s Last Fight, Pirate Hunting in North Carolina 1718 is also available as a Kindle version through Amazon.
PRICE:
UK £15.99 / US $21.00 / CAN $30.00
This book was provided to me by Osprey Publishing. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.
