Description
Book SynopsisShows how Britain and its empire was not a strong centralised imperial state and that it was only through manifold activities taking place in different colonial centres with varied colonial arrangements that the surge in piracy in this period was contained and reduced. This book charts the surge and decline in piracy in the early eighteenth century (the so-called "Golden Age" of piracy), exploring the ways in which pirates encountered, obstructed, and antagonised the diverse participants of the British empire in the Caribbean, North America, Africa, and the Indian Ocean. The book's primary focus is on how anti-piracy campaigns were constructed as a result of the negotiations, conflicts, and individual undertakings of different imperial actors operating in the commercial and imperial hub of London; maritime communities throughout the British Atlantic; trading outposts in West Africa and India; and marginal and contested zones such as the Bahamas, Madagascar, and the Bay Islands. It argues that Britain and its empire was not a strong centralised imperial state; that the British imperial administration and the Royal Navy did not have the resources to mount a state-led, empire-wide war against piracy following the sharp increase in piratical attacks after 1716; and that it was only through manifold activities taking place in different colonial centres with varied colonial arrangements, economic strengths, and access to resources for maritime defence - which was often shaped by competing and contradictory interests - that Atlantic piracy was gradually discouraged, although not eradicated, by the mid-1720s.
Trade ReviewOne of the most compelling aspects of this work is its incredible detail and depth of research. The author has clearly produced one of the most thorough studies of colonial political, economic, and legal issues possible.... The scale of research certainly is impressive.... I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of British colonial history, the history of colonial America, or the history of piracy. Student, layman, or professor, this book is worth the effort. -- Robert Dienesch * The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord *
An impressive and important work of scholarship that nevertheless manages to remain readable and accessible to the nonspecialist. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES *
Suppressing Piracy will be valuable for historians of eighteenth-century trade, empire, colonial, politics, and piracy, among others. * JOURNAL FOR EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES *
Writing with energy and skill, Wilson is an important new voice in maritime history. Wilson's study is essential reading for all those interested in colonial and imperial history, maritime history, and the so-called 'Golden Age' of piracy. * GLOBAL MARITIME HISTORY *
By focusing on the local circumstances and experience of life and of trade in the British Empire, Wilson provides a much-needed counterbalance to previous piracy studies, which place the imperial metropole at the heart of the narrative on the economy, trade, regulation and law enforcement (including piracy suppression). -- Guy Chet * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: Peacetime Disputes and the Rise of Piracy Chapter Two: Caribbean Piracy and the Protection of Trade Chapter Three: Woodes Rogers and Private Enterprise in New Providence Chapter Four: Colonial Maritime Defence and Piracy in North America Chapter Five: The Slave Trading Lobby and Piracy in West Africa Chapter Six: Piracy and Company Sovereignty in the Indian Ocean Chapter Seven: The Structural Weaknesses of Piracy and Imperial Maritime Power in the Western Atlantic Conclusion Appendices Bibliography
