Keith Thomson (1) (1965–)

This was the wildest pirate adventure I have encountered so far. I only had a glimpse of it from William Dampier's perspective in "A Pirate of Exquisite Mind." It began in 1680, when Kuna chief, Andreas, in Panama learned that a band of buccaneers had arrived in his neck of the woods. In what may have been the first Indigenous privateer commission, he asks them to rescue his granddaughter from the local Spaniards. With the prospect of Spanish gold, they separate into 7 units for the long march to Santa Maria. Povey describes the trek matter-of-factly, Ringrose painstakingly tracks their location, and Dampier admires the local flora and fauna. Flooding, separation, exhaustion, malnourishment and short tempers dog them the whole way. But they succeed! However, it turns out the treasure is in Panama City behind heavy fortifications and 3 warships guarding the port. In a feat worthy of film, the buccaneers face it all on St. George's Day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, with two canoes and whole lot of brass! And it doesn't even end there!

I really enjoyed Thomson's style in this one. There are humorous quips here and there, to keep it entertaining, but it's serious when it needs to be. However I recommend reading Preston's bio of Dampier beforehand. There needs to be slightly more context as to why these men were in the South Seas in the first place. It really dives right into Panama within the first five pages. But Thomson makes up for this by consistently referencing each of the seven chroniclers, which I greatly appreciated. I actually wish I had read about five chapters of Preston's book, stopped, read this one, and then finished the first. Thomson's enthusiasm actually makes me want to seek out all the first-hand accounts. Despite overwhelming odds, these men became part of a very remarkable and unique episode in piratical history.… (más)

Thomson does a great job of making this history based mainly on diaries and logs read seamlessly, like an adventure novel. He had devilishly delicious material to work with and made the most of all the spine tingling details. These were outlaws and their acts generally unjustified, but taking pleasure in their telling now is harmless fun. Plus honestly, the Spanish were no better in their ruthless methods of extracting the gold and silver from the new world in the first place. A lot of their victims might say they got what they deserved. Makes you wonder who the real barbarians were.… (más)

This book follows the first English pirates to cross the Darian Passage (on foot), which is the dividing line between North and South America, mainly from pirate Basil Ringrose‘s diary and the diaries of others. They travel the length of South America and are the first to navigate around Cape Horn, fighting the Spanish, hunger, thirst, and the elements. I learned so much from reading this book, not the least that pirates wrote detailed diaries! Pirates care mainly about the next big score so they can lose it all drinking and visiting brothels. They worked hard and played hard. They had the most up-to-date medical care because the ship doctor had to treat everything imaginable. Living on a pirate ship can mean months at a time without seeing land or getting re-provisioned with food and water. These pirates were skilled sharpshooters and could defeat large numbers of enemies even those with guns as well. They were a democracy and voted in and out captains, sometimes frequently. I was amazed at the detail these pirates recorded! The narrator was very monotone for much of the beginning of the book. Either I got used to it or he finally started enjoying the narrative himself, but the audiobook got better with time. If you have any interest in pirates, this is a must read.… (más)