The Devil's Anarchy

Download or read book The Devil's Anarchy written by Stephen Snelders and published by Autonomedia. This book was released on 2005 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores pirate culture as radical social organization: a salty picture of anarchic pirate life, liberated, pleasurable and violent!Rebelling against hierarchical society and choosing the Jolly Roger, pirates entered the political spheres of anarchist organization and festival, with death and violence ever-present. Pirates created an upside-down world full of heroics as well as the deep horrors of life outside authority.Examining piracy as limited social rebellion,The Devil's Anarchy travels from the Hollywood pirate-as-hero to the stories of two great Dutch pirates: Claes Compaen, who terrorized the seas from 1623 to 1627, and Jan Erasmus Reyning, who ruled the seas a half-century later.This unique focus on the politics of piracy in the 17th and 18th centuries, featuring the first english translations of key Dutch texts, makes this a hugely entertaining book that provides insight into the real lives of these legendary bandits of the seas.