Clinton V. BlackRecensioni

Clinton V. Black, a well-regarded Jamaican archivist, shares the story of the pirates and buccaneers who trolled the waters of the Caribbean over the centuries. The author provides an overview of piracy and then spends the rest of the short book sharing the stories of some of the more prominent pirates--Henry Morgan, Capt. Richard Sawkins, Capt. Howel Davis, Capt. Bartholomew Roberts, Capt. George Lowther, Capt. Charles Vane, Capt. Teach (Blackbeard), Jack Rackham and the women pirates (Mary Read and Anne Bonny), Capt. John Evans, and Nicholas Brown. A timeline, glossary of terms, and bibliography are included. Although the author's knowledge of his subject is apparent and evidence of research is apparent, the work itself is marred by the absence of footnotes or end notes. Even though the author includes a bibliography, we cannot see where the various sources were utilized.½

This is a collection of fact-based stories, written by the archivist of Jamaica and utilizing sources in their national archives, which illustrates Jamaica's history from the mid-1600s to mid-1800s. It is not really a popular history because the reading level is higher, but it's not really academic because the author chose not to include bibliographic references. As is the case with many collections of this type, some of the stories are more engaging than others.

This is a standard school history of Jamaica, written by the island's longtime archivist. Like most works intended for secondary school readers it is superficial, but the author tries for an honest history within his limitations.