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 enlarge | Author: Robert H Patton
Creator: Alan Sklar
Publisher: Tantor Media
Category: Book
List Price: $34.99
Buy New: $16.45
You Save: $18.54 (53%)
New (27) Used (7) from $16.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 1502911
Format: Audiobook, Cd, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 9
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.4 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 1400106605
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.35
EAN: 9781400106608
ASIN: 1400106605
Publication Date: May 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: NEW, Mint Gift Quality Condition. Includes FREE Delivery Confirmation Tracking.
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| Customer Reviews:
 boring June 23, 2008
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am halfway through and may not finsih it.
It is interesting to see all the conflict-of-interest and outsourcing war profiteering scams were just as prevalent in 1777 as 2007, if not more so. Some things never change.
There is way too much review of correspondance and obscure contracting issues and almost NOTHING from the point-of-view of the actual privateers. If you are looking for action, look elsewhere.
 How Not to Write a History Book June 21, 2008
1 out of 9 found this review helpful
First, take an interesting subject. Second, focus on the most boring, obscure people related to that subject. Third, constantly repeat yourself. Fourth, fail to reread 1776 to learn how to write gripping history.
 Good but not really good June 18, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This book is told in chronological, geographic vignettes which follow various people with quick biographical sketches as they engaged in privateering. There is little in the way of overview on privateering in general or its overall impact on the war. What is there is scattered throughout the book. Patriot Pirates would benefit from a more focused approach: a survey of privateering; or a thesis to be proved- privateering was critical to weakening the British war effort; even overview chapter. The narratives could have been better employed as highlights to these approaches. As is, it is an easy read with some good information on privateering and a solid bibliography for further reading. Much of the non-privateering information will be repetitive to even casual students of the era.
 A book about Washington's "Gallant Little Navy" May 26, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
In "Patriot Pirates", Robert H. Patton delivers a detailed study of the business of American Privateers during the years of 1775 through 1783. Patton's book illustrates that in most cases, these men were driven more by the lure of a quick fortune than by patriotism.
Patton's introduction lays the strategic environment under which the America's privateer industry began. Patton attributes the beginning of the enterprise to a quote from George Washington during his siege of Boston in 1775, "Finding we were not likely to do much in the land way, I fitted out several privateers, or rather armed vessels, in behalf of the Continent." Beginning as an aside to the siege of Boston, these Privateers were sanctioned by Congress and they soon affected the entire Atlantic seaboard and the Caribbean by attacking English and loyalist shipping wherever it may have been.
Patton's thorough research is apparent as he describes the efforts of the more successful businessmen like Rhode Island's John Brown; Robert Morris; Silas Deane; and Benjamin Franklin. Along with these American heroes, Patton also recounts the actions of Edward Bancroft, the most famous double-agent of the Revolution. Interspersed with this biographical information are stories of the actual ships and Captains who made life miserable for the British. "Patriot Pirates" recalls their greatest successes and the horrors of the British prison ships in Wallabout Bay, New York.
The book does an outstanding job of describing the international intrigue among England, France, Holland, Spain and the rebellious American Colonies. As neutral parties to the war, France and Holland could not accept the illicit goods captured from English ships. Patton describes the how industry bent these rules to the benefit of everyone except the British.
During the war, France created the front company, Hortalez and Company, to provide loans to purchase arms to the fledgling American army. Not only does Patton describe how this worked, but he also illustrates how this company was connected to the downfall of Louis XVI during the French Revolution.
The book is very well researched, and includes copious references to additional reading, but I would still recommend a map of the Caribbean to have at your side as you read this book. For readers like myself who can't tell the difference between a sloop and a frigate, it might be helpful to have a naval almanac too. "Patriot Pirates" is a fascinating look at the business of Privateering and its effects on International Relations.
 Different history of part of the American Revolution May 26, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is one of the most interesting books I've read in recent years. Robert Patton, who it a descendant of the World War II general, has turned himself into a historian, and this is his first work of true history. He recounts in some detail the story of the Revolutionary War privateering industry, which caused considerable damage to the British economy. The author quotes George Washington as saying that the privateers were the "pivot on which everything turned".
Patton writes carefully of the various events and circumstances of the privateer war. He goes over in some detail the various personalities involved in the war, everyone from interesting characters like Nathaniel Greene around to more obscure characters like the Brown brothers and John Manley, the prototypical privateer who made the first and last captures of the war. He also discusses the fortunes that were made, some of which continue to enrich old families on the East Cost.
This is a fascinating account of a part of the Revolutionary War that's little-known except as a footnote. The author provides a considerable amount of information, and also analysis of the whole issue. I really enjoyed this book and felt I learned a considerable amount of information about the subject.
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