The Buccaneers of America: A True Account of the Most Remarkable Assaults Committed of Late Years upon the Coasts of the West Indies by the Buccaneers of Jamaica & Tortuga by Alexandre O Exquemelin
Editied by Matt Albers, translated by William Swan Sonnenschein
The West Indies in the late 17th Century was home to a group of sea raiders that were not yet pirates, and not quite privateers. The Buccaneers. The Brethren of the Coast, as they called themselves, lived dissolute lives of violence, debauchery, thievery, & murder.
These are the stories of Captain Henry Morgan and his raids on Campeche, Porto Bello, and Panama. Of Francois l’Ollonias and the terror he inflicted on the people of Maracaibo and Cabo Gracis a Dios. Of Pierre le Picard, Roche Brasiliano, and Pierre le Grand. These are the first Pirates of the Caribbean.
From the English city of Port Royal & the French island of Tortuga they sailed in fleets of small ships hunting for Spanish silver. In secret pirate havens in Panama, Jamaica, Mexico, & Nicaragua they sat in council with Miskito & Guna Indians, and with escaped slaves across the West Indies in communities known as the Maroons.
This book was written by an indentured servant turned Buccaneer named Alexandre O. Exquemelin. His first hand accounts of the depredations of the Buccaneers became a worldwide bestseller and helped to build the modern publishing market in Europe. This work is a modernization of the original English translation of a manuscript first printed in London in 1684.
The editor is a long time student of pirates in the Age of Sail and host of The Pirate History Podcast. This edition will draw from the original Dutch editions and subsequent historical research to clarify and correct some of the liberties taken by the original English publishers.
Pages: 254
Published: 2021 (first published 1678)
ISBN: 979-8529245552