DOC Empire of the Dharma: Korean and Japanese Buddhism; 1877–1912 (Harvard East Asian Monographs) by Hwansoo Ilmee Kim in History

Description

The legends that die hardest are those of the romantic outlaw; and those of swashbuckling pirates are surely among the most durable. Swift ships; snug inns; treasures buried by torchlight; palm-fringed beaches; fabulous riches; and; most of all; freedom from the mean life of the laboring man are the stuff of this tradition reinforced by many a novel and film. It is disconcerting to think of such dashing scoundrels as slaves to economic forces; but so they were--as Robert Ritchie demonstrates in this lively history of piracy. He focuses on the shadowy figure of William Kidd; whose career in the late seventeenth century swept him from the Caribbean to New York; to London; to the Indian Ocean before he ended in Newgate prison and on the gallows. Piracy in those days was encouraged by governments that could not afford to maintain a navy in peacetime. Kidd's most famous voyage was sponsored by some of the most powerful men in England; and even though such patronage granted him extraordinary privileges; it tied him to the political fortunes of the mighty Whig leaders. When their influence waned; the opposition seized upon Kidd as a weapon. Previously sympathetic merchants and shipowners did an about-face too and joined the navy in hunting down Kidd and other pirates. By the early eighteenth century; pirates were on their way to becoming anachronisms. Ritchie's wide-ranging research has probed this shift in the context of actual voyages; sea fights; and adventures ashore. What sort of men became pirates in the first place; and why did they choose such an occupation? What was life like aboard a pirate ship? How many pirates actually became wealthy? How were they governed? What large forces really caused their downfall? As the saga of the buccaneers unfolds; we see the impact of early modern life: social changes and Anglo-American politics; the English judicial system; colonial empires; rising capitalism; and the maturing bureaucratic state are all interwoven in the story. Best of all; Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates is an epic of adventure on the high seas and a tale of back-room politics on land that captures the mind and the imagination.