The Pirate Empire

Your first question would be “Why are we reviewing a Ren Faire?” and the second would be “What’s a Michiana, anyway?” Both wise questions, ...

I first heard of the nation of Belize while reading the introduction to Colin Woodard’s excellent book, The Republic of Pirates. In it, Woo...

One of the most famous phrases in pirate lore, the term “pieces of eight” is the phrase uttered by Long John Silver’s parrot, the first rea...

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know that pirates didn’t bury their treasure (the exception being Captain William Kidd...

One of the great hardships for all Europeans in the Caribbean area during the Golden Age of Piracy was the threat of disease. Europe’s cool...

The region of the Caribbean – the islands in the Caribbean Sea, and the coastland of South America, and Mexico – must have seemed like anot...

When I was a child in grade school (this was a long time ago, but not that long ago, because, you know, I’m still here) I was taught that t...