The Real History of Pirates

By: Professor Manushag N. Powell, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Professor Manushag N. Powell

There’s an apocryphal story that Alexander the Great once captured a notorious pirate named Diomedes. The great conqueror decided to interview the doomed pirate, asking him what he thought gave him the right to seize the property of other people. The pirate responded by asking the emperor what he thought gave him the right to take property that doesn’t belong to him, including entire countries. The story goes that Alexander thought the pirate very clever, granting him freedom instead of execution.

Other than scale, what is the difference between a pirate and the vast armies of an emperor? Or between a pirate and the great navy of a queen? Were the men who famously traversed the Atlantic actually the heroic explorers we imagined them to be - or were they...pirates? During the early years of what would be known as the Age of Sail, these explorers included Sirs Francis Drake, John Hawkins, and Walter Ralegh.

In The Real History of Pirates, you’ll find yourself looking at world history from a new point of view, realizing that much of what you’ve learned before could - and possibly should - be viewed through a more appropriate post-imperialistic filter. Your course professor, Manushag N. Powell, an award-winning Professor of English at Purdue University, will expose you to new ways of thinking about global interactions from the West Indies to the Red Sea, from the North Atlantic to Indonesia. You’ll learn what causes piracy, why it still flourishes today, why some pirates even had the backing of a well-established government, and why women sometimes wielded the real power behind the scenes in an enterprise conducted almost exclusively by men.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 The Great Courses (P)2021 The Teaching Company, LLC

I ironically PRECISELY What I Wanted and Was Looking For: A Lecture About piracy, what causes it and NOT a Historical Timeline.

This is fantastic if you are looking for an overview of piracy. It’s a lecture series about piracy rather than a breakdown of the historical piracy timeline. I was not looking for a historical timeline. I wanted someone to tell me ABOUT pirates, what causes it, it’s effects and what they were like around the world. I took copious notes and it was so easy to understand. I did not want a course telling me about piracy in chronological order as a dry historical rundown.

I am very happy with this, learned so much from a writers perspective and it accomplished exactly what I needed.

A lot of poorer rating reviews of this are addressing the professor emphasizing misogyny, white supremacy and other social issues as a bad thing, but those were super welcome to me so that it tells us that she understands her subject and the forces at play. Piracy was rampant with misogyny, racism and white supremacy (as the real world is today and people getting mad over this feels like it’s uncomfortable for them to listen to that but this is really what happens in the real world so) and I am so glad she did not overlook this, particularly as someone writing a pirate fantasy primarily driven by people of color. She did a very good job not overlooking how colonialism (again, rife with racism, misogyny and white supremacy in general) played a part in real world piracy. I’m so glad she emphasized this and it made me feel like me like “yes, this is someone who isn’t talking from the singular perspective of an old white dude who doesn’t think those social issues are paramount to history.”

They should always be talked about so I’m glad she doubled down on How Big they were in this subject. Great job. The poorer reviews complaining about this are honestly silly and not very credible in my opinion.

I also liked her tone of voice. Didn’t feel boring to listen to. That’s subjective though. I Highly recommend this for people who want to get a thorough run down of how to write pirates.

really Interesting

full of information, not fantasy. this lady really knows her stuff and presents it in a very entertaining manner. I would recommend this.

quite good and a learning experience

I never realized that there were so many pirates. The laws and punishments were so varied. There is a lot to learn and history to enjoy

Good info, presentation needs work

interesting subject matter, but lecturer presents like reading an essay aloud. author is a literature professor, and the style is like dictating a magazine article. choice of words is anachronistic or awkward when spoken, but would probably make a good textbook. speaking style is kind of sing-song with a definite meter that you can get tired of.

that said, the historical research is interesting and seems well-researched. topics of daily life, economic concerns, and geo-politics are insightful.

A very cynic perspective

It has few and scattered stories and many personnal opinions. That would be fine by me, but the personnal comments the lecturer does are cynical and obvious for the average reader - essentially, “party pooper comments” about social justice directed to times that weren’t (again, obviously) meeting up to the standards of today.
I thought this could be a more enjoyable theme to hear, and I do blame it on my childhood, specially with the Muppets movie. Sadly, this lecturer has a poor sense of humour and makes light talk on the worst possible sombre momments.
PS: I’m portuguese. “Ladrones” is not a portuguese word, at least nowadays, it only exists in spanish. This and other small things make me guess that the facts about portuguese and spanish people are sometimes mixed in this course. I’m guessing the old british sources and translations can have mistakes about it, and it’s not the lecturer’s fault, But what about checking with a portuguese/spanish historian before lecturing about it?

I really wanted to like this…

The content is very interesting and well-researched. I love pirate lore, but I can’t get past the performance. It’s obvious that the presenter is reading, and the content is written in complicated sentence structure that is hard to keep up with by listening. Also, she overemphasizes random words and mumbles or rushes different parts. It’s very annoying.

The Real Deal on Pirates

Lectures address all the major historical and literary pirates. Real or imagined.

The truth is somewhat drier than fiction and more brutal. Author concludes that classic piracy was also indissolubly bound to the trade in chattel slaves. And that the trade in fact required semi legal naval freebooters. Also noting that as dire as the pirates life was (typically less than three years) it was still better than slavery for non-whites.

Such unexpected details as the fact that “walking the plank” wasn’t a thing, to the sectarian religious outlines of Catholic vs Protestant divisions are clarifying.

The lecturers’ manner is dry and slightly ironic at times. The pacing is sprightly and she’s a good story teller.

For some reason she repeatedly stresses that the scope of her survey encompasses only the “Anglophone” literature and data. Though she does not overlook the larger world history of piracy which persists to this day.

So this is a worthy adjunct to your pirate entertainment but may be too much of a spoiler for some. the real deal was pretty squalid, not romantic or remunerative, unless you were Sir Francis Drake and backed surreptitiously by the English crown, and a pretty wicked business. Yet the early practice of international geopolitical naval warfare required it.

Pirates!

Great lecture to learn about one of the greatest professions ever. even touched on some modern act

Not an intro, but some interesting perspective

More of a collection of interesting facts than a cohesive history. Presenting a clear timeline would have been a good starting point, however this course is organized into various pirate related subjects, which may leave a person new to pirate history a bit lost.

That being said, if you have an understanding of the main pirate eras and historical figures, this course will answer a lot of questions you may have. It does a great job of breaking down fact vs fiction, and helps cleanse your mind of the romanticism often embraced by us pirate enthusiasts.


If you just want an overview of the Golden Age of Piracy, listen to The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard.

If you wish to embark on a deep dive into pirate history, I recommend In Search of a Kingdom by Bergreen (Francis Drake), Empire of the Blue Water by Talty (Captain Morgan), The Republic of Pirates by Woodard (Golden Age, Blackbeard included), and this course, The Real History of Pirates by Powell (general discussion), in that order.

A Bit Difficult to Follow

The speaker talks a bit fast sometimes and has a tendency to do a bit of sing song. I changed the speed to be slightly slower, and that helped a little. It can still be a bit hard to understand if you aren't in a perfectly silent environment.