Yes, John, piracy is very interesting. I spent a career teaching at a maritime school, and piracy was even today a big topic.
My recent read was
The Pirate Queen, a book about Queen Elizabeth I of England, and how she had to depend on 'pirates' for income. Their pillages of the Spanish treasure ships coming from the New World funded the English government and wars. But in England, they were called 'merchants'. The leaders, like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, were mostly second sons of noble families. The first son got the estate. The second son had to make his own way, so many became 'merchants'.
The high seas of those days were the wild west of later times. It turns out that Elizabeth I could not have survived as a ruler, and England as a nation, had there not been the income from piracy. She got a share, like one-sixth, of takings of the pirates, because she gave them 'letters of marque' which gave them her permission to do some raiding. Sometimes, though, she didn't give the letters, but she got a percentage anyway.
The Pirate Queen------------------------------
Bruce Hartman
Professor
University of St Francis and Califormia State University Maritime
Tucson, AZ United States
bruce@ahartman.netwebsite:http://drbrucehartman.net
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-01-2022 09:00
From: John Bowman
Subject: Fun Post - Read any good books lately?
My daughter went off to college last fall, and one of the books in her Intro to Political Science class was The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates. Copying shamelessly from the Amazon description, which I can hardly equal: " The Invisible Hook takes readers inside the wily world of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century pirates. With swashbuckling irreverence and devilish wit, Peter Leeson uncovers the hidden economics behind pirates' notorious, entertaining, and sometimes downright shocking behavior. Why did pirates fly flags of Skull & Bones? Why did they create a "pirate code"? Were pirates really ferocious madmen?". I learned a lot about not just piracy (most of what I thought I knew was wrong,) but the era and region in general, and some political economy as well - and it's just a fun and very interesting read.
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John Bowman
Director, Data Science / Distinguished Data Scientist
Walmart, Inc.
El Cerrito CA
Original Message:
Sent: 06-30-2022 14:38
From: Jill Capello
Subject: Fun Post - Read any good books lately?
I know a lot of people have vacations coming up and it's always fun to read a good book while relaxing on the beach or wherever you might be... Any recommendations you'd like to share?
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Jill Capello
Membership Associate
INFORMS
Catonsville MD
jcapello@informs.org
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