Excerpt from Under The Black Flag

I though I would post one last excerpt from Under The Black Flag. It is from the afterword and discusses why there is such romance with piracy.

There is nothing romantic about modern piracy, and as in earlier times, it is not uncommon for the captain and crew to be seriously wounded or killed if they fail to cooperate. Since piracy is simply armed robbery on the high seas, and has been accompanied by a catalog of cruelities and atrocities, it is surprising that it should have acquired a comparatively glamorous image. Part of the explanation may be found in the exotic locations where many of the pirates operated. The cruising grounds of the most notorious seventeenth- and eighteenth century pirates were the tropical waters of the Caribbean, the west coast of Africa, and the Indian Ocean. Coral islands, lagoons, and sandy beaches fringed with coconut palms have an extraordinary attraction for those brought up in colder northern lattitudes, and this is why even a small time pirate like Calico Jack, who attacked fishing boats in the seas around Jamaica, has more appeal than a bank robber or thief who specializes in raids on main-street banks or stores. There is also the romance of the sea. The mythical voyages of Odysseus, the travels of Columbus, Magellan, and Captain Cook, and the sea stories of Conrad and Melville have fascinated generations of land-based readers. The pirates who roamed the seas in search of plunder share in this fascination.

Another part part of the explanation may be the anarchic nature of piracy. Most people are condemned to lives of monotony. Year in year out, workers in offices, factories, and large and small companies follow the same daily routine. They catch the same bu or train; they drive along the same route and suffer the same delays and traffic jams.They endure hours of boredom, often doing a job which gives them little or no satisfaction. They come home to face the predictable problems of family life or the lonliness of a flat in some dreary location.What greater contrast could there be with a life of piracy? The pirates escaped from the laws and regulations which govern most of us. They were rebels against authority, free spirits who made up there own rules. They left behind the gray world of rainswept streets and headed for the sun. We imagine them sprawled on sandy beaches with a bottle of rum in one hand and a lovely woman by their side, and a sleek black schooner moored offshore waiting to carr them away to distant and exotic islands.

I don't feel like losing any of my loyal readers to the gallows, so if you lead a monotonous life and are considering piracy here is a list of ways to spic up your life without ending up swinging from the yardarm.

• Celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day
• Listen to sea shanties.
• Read Treasure Island
• Watch Pirates of the Caribbean

Or if it is the sea that calls to you... GO
Or if it is the beach, tropical climate, and tropical drinks... GO