Pirate Hunter of the Caribbean: The Adventurous Life of Captain Woodes Rogers by David Cordingly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The title is a too obvious attempt to trade on the popularity of the Disney movies (Cordingly was a historical advisor on the first one) and that's too bad because the book stands on its own merits as a lively piece of non-fiction. Woodes Roger's life doesn't quite fill out a book, but add in historical figures who's life he's only one degree removed from, and you've got a good story. The book gets rolling with William Dampier who has a connection to the man that might have been the real Robinson Crusoe before he went on to be Rogers' navigator on a circumnavigation in 1708-1711, on to the actual rescue of that man, then on to Rogers' terms as the first and third Royal Governor of the Bahamas, when the pirate hunting actually comes into the story by Rogers' contracts with former pirates to bring those that didn't take "the pardon". This isn't so much a biography of Rogers as a story of a period of history that he was at near center of much of the time. Well a well researched book with decent references and foot notes for the reader who wants a story with their facts.
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