Description

From the coast of Southern Europe to Morocco and the Ottoman states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Christian and Muslim seafarers met in bustling ports to swap religions, to battle and to trade goods and sales – raiding as far as Ireland and Iceland in search of their human currency.Studying the origins of these men, their culture and practices, Adrian Tinniswood expertly recreates the twilight world of the corsairs and uncovers a truly remarkable clash of civilisations

Drawing on a wealth of material, from furious royal proclamations to the private letters of pirates and their victims, as well as recent Islamic accounts, Pirates of Barbary provides a new perspectives of the corsairs and a fascinating insight into what it meant to sacrifice all you have for a life so violent, so uncertain and so alien that it sets you apart from the rest of mankind.

Publisher Review

Tinniswood's absorbing book is packed with bad characters, big fights and breathless chases -- Peter Lewis * Daily Mail * Tinniswood narrates this story with brio and bravura, displaying an excellent eye for the theatrical detail and juicy episode -- Maria Fusaro * BBC History Magazine * Adrian Tinniswood is a masterly writer of history with a gift for slamming his readers into the thick of the action -- Jason Goodwin * Literary Review * This rollicking book unpicks a confusion of names, dates and places to produce a fascinating history of seabourne conflict. -- Christopher Hudson * Daily Telegraph * This exciting book proves that such obscurity is both surprising and undeserved -- James McConnachie * The Times *