Andrew Ranson: St Augustine's Pirate


Book Description

When his mother, the duchess, dies in childbirth, Andrew Ranson is abandoned by his father, the Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who provides the black wet nurse funds to raise him as her own in Jamaica. After he goes to sea, Andrew learns of his heritage and collides with his father's upper-class world in England and America. While a captive in Spanish St. Augustine, Andrew saves the town from the 1702 invasion by English forces from Carolina. Andrew Ranson: St. Augustine's Pirate intertwines international intrigue as European powers battle for control of Florida and its all-important shipping lanes. Lust, piracy, financial ruin, and unrequited love also play their part in behind-the-scene views of events that established America, including the purchase of Mt. Vernon by the father of George Washington. Andrew Ranson: St. Augustine's Pirate received a medallion for being one of the ten historical fiction finalists in the Florida Writers Association's 2014 Royal Palm Literary Awards.




Twenty Florida Pirates


Book Description

Blackbeard, Jose Gaspar, Jean Lafitte—the names conjure up a romantic, swashbuckling figure with a black patch over one eye, a cutlass in his teeth, and a brace of pistols tucked into his waistband. Actors such as Errol Flynn did much to create that devil-may-care attitude glamorized on the silver screen, but in fact, real pirates were not so admirable; for the most part they were cruel, greedy, dastardly brigands, many of whom were slave traders or smugglers in addition to being pirates. Still, we continue to be fascinated by their lives and exploits, perhaps because they led such adventurous lives full of bravery, recklessness and daring. It is certainly more enjoyable— and safer—to read about pirates than to encounter one. This book chronicles the lives and times of 20 notable Florida pirates, from the English privateers of the 1500s to present-day drug smugglers and “yachtjackers." Pirates have always found easy prey in the seas around Florida; not only did the treasure-laden ships on their way back to Europe have to sail close to Florida's shores to catch the currents east, but the treacherous Florida Reef foundered many a ship, making easy pickings. Most of what we know about pirates comes from Navy records, newspaper accounts, or eyewitness statements from those whom the pirates spared. This book distills the most interesting facts from many sources into a book that will be enjoyed by anyone interested in a different perspective on Florida's history.




Under Siege!


Book Description

What is it like to be 13, trapped inside a fort, and surrounded by a superior enemy? Pedro has been told he is too young to fight. But he has skill and a unique knowledge of the land on his side. When the English attack the Castillo de San Marcos fort in the Spanish stronghold of St. Augustine in 1702, he and his friend Miguel are thrown into an adventure of a lifetime. Woods crawling with the enemy, a naval blockade, an escaped pirate with detailed knowledge of the fort, and critically low ammunition are just a few of the challenges ahead. They realize they must sneak behind enemy lines to help or the town will certainly perish.




St. Augustine


Book Description

Gary Sanchez’s teacher is taking their fourth-grade class 100 miles from home to the oldest city in the United States. Gary has so much fun, he wants his parents to bring him back for another visit! Established by Spain in 1565, St. Augustine, Florida, has a huge stone fort built over 300 years ago. Visitors to that fort get to see where the great Seminole war chief, Osceola, was kept prisoner. They also get to crawl into the old, windowless gunpowder room discovered when the United States took over the fort from Spain. Cannons still fire in this city, just as they did when invaders burned St. Augustine to the ground. On special days, men dressed as pirates and Spanish soldiers pretend to fight in the streets. Cool cemeteries, the oldest wooden schoolhouse in America, and a lighthouse with 219 steps make this ancient city one of the most interesting in the country.




A History Lover's Guide to Florida


Book Description

Explorers and pirates, hurricanes and shipwrecks, movie stars and presidents—a journey through Florida’s history and a guide to the places it happened. More than any other state (except Nevada), Florida is a state of transplants—where a quarter of the population comes from outside the US, and a third comes from other states. Thanks to its famous beaches and tourist attractions, it’s often thought of as more a destination than a home...even for those who live there. In spite of this—or perhaps because of it—the Sunshine State has one of the richest histories in the nation. Decades before the Pilgrims, the Spanish celebrated Thanksgiving in Florida. Centuries before the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York, the holiday was celebrated in St. Augustine, where urban renewal was underway when Jamestown settlers arrived. In this lively guide, James Clark offers a lifetime of places to explore and facts to fascinate, tracing the state’s long and colorful history from Pensacola to the Florida Keys. You’ll find photos, illustrations, and detailed lists of 10 forts, 10 wars, 5 flags that flew over Florida, 40 historic landmarks, 50 museums, and much more.




More Shipwrecks of Florida


Book Description

More Shipwrecks of Florida is a sequel to Shipwrecks of Florida, 2nd edition. This new book with all new content adds over 1,500 shipwrecks to the guide, and includes additional information on hundreds of previously listed shipwrecks, all organized by year. It also includes more GPS coordinates, as well as stories of pirates and privateers, wreckers, and buried and sunken treasure.




The Struggle for the Georgia Coast


Book Description

Early source material on southeastern Indians.




The Golden Age of Piracy


Book Description

For thousands of years, pirates have terrorized the ocean voyager and the coastal inhabitant, plundered ship and shore, and wrought havoc on the lives and livelihoods of rich and poor alike. Around these desperate men has grown a body of myths and legends—fascinating tales that today strongly influence our notions of pirates and piracy. Most of these myths derive from the pirates of the “Golden Age,” from roughly 1655 to 1725. This was the age of the Spanish Main, of Henry Morgan and Blackbeard, of Bartholomew Sharp and Bartholomew Roberts. The history of pirate myth is rich in action, at sea and ashore. However, the truth is far more interesting. In The Golden Age of Piracy, expert pirate historian Benerson Little debunks more than a dozen pirate myths that derive from this era—from the flying of the Jolly Roger to the burying of treasure, from walking the plank to the staging of epic sea battles—and shows that the truth is far more fascinating and disturbing than the romanticized legends. Among Little’s revelations are that pirates of the Golden Age never made their captives walk the plank and that they, instead, were subject to horrendous torture, such as being burned or hung by their arms. Likewise, epic sea battles involving pirates were fairly rare because most prey surrendered immediately. The stories are real and are drawn heavily from primary sources. Complementing them are colorful images of flags, ships, and buccaneers based on eyewitness accounts. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.




Florida's Dark Chapters


Book Description

Anyone who has ever traveled to Florida immediately assumes they've got the state figured out. It usually involves the common tropes we see splashed across news and social media: Disney, Miami, alligators, heat, retirees and weird people. As a result, very few people try to dig any deeper. This book explores the darkest parts of Florida's past. These stories, told out in sequential order and broken down by theme, contain everything that has come to make up the Sunshine State: from the surprising, to the weird, to the horrifying, and, in some cases, inspiring. Topics covered include Florida in the Age of Exploration, pirates, Spanish colonialism, the Seminole Wars, slavery and race relations during the Civil War, Prohibition, segregation, disco and drugs, serial killers, economic ruin, urbanism, and Florida in the age of DeSantis.




Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740


Book Description

Analyzing the rise and subsequent fall of international piracy from the perspective of colonial hinterlands, Mark G. Hanna explores the often overt support of sea marauders in maritime communities from the inception of England's burgeoning empire in the 1570s to its administrative consolidation by the 1740s. Although traditionally depicted as swashbuckling adventurers on the high seas, pirates played a crucial role on land. Far from a hindrance to trade, their enterprises contributed to commercial development and to the economic infrastructure of port towns. English piracy and unregulated privateering flourished in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean because of merchant elites' active support in the North American colonies. Sea marauders represented a real as well as a symbolic challenge to legal and commercial policies formulated by distant and ineffectual administrative bodies that undermined the financial prosperity and defense of the colonies. Departing from previous understandings of deep-sea marauding, this study reveals the full scope of pirates' activities in relation to the landed communities that they serviced and their impact on patterns of development that formed early America and the British Empire.




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