The riveting story of the slave ship Whydah;captured by pirates and later sunk in a fierce storm off the coast of Massachusetts; energizes this lavish companion book to a unique exhibition on a five-year U.S. tour. Packed with plunder from more than 50 captured ships; the Whydah was discovered by underwater explorer Barry Clifford in 1984. Now; for the first time; its treasure holds are unlocked for public view. More than 200 items were retrieved from the ocean floor: the telltale ship's bell; inscribed "Whydah Galley 1716"; coins and jewelry; buttons and cufflinks; muskets; cannons; and swords; everyday objects including teakettles and tableware; gaming tokens; and clay pipes. The artifacts provide an unprecedented glimpse into the raucous world of 18th-century pirating and shed light on the link between the slave trade and piracy during those tumultuous times. Built to transport human captives from Africa to the Caribbean; the Whydah made one such voyage before being captured in 1717 by Sam Bellamy; the boldest pirate of his day. Two months later; in one of the worst nor'easters ever; the ship sank; drowning all but 2 of the 146 people aboard. For anyone intrigued by the lore of piracy; the mystery of shipwrecks; or the sad and salty intertwining of slave and pirate history; Real Pirates has the answers.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
#1405543 in Books Johns Hopkins University Press 2012-07-11 2012-07-11Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .64 x 6.00l; .80 #File Name: 1421407728264 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Misleading premiseBy JeanajoanI give it three stars for the historical information; but if you are looking for a mystery and a resolution; you will not find it here.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Sex and Death in Renaissance FlorenceBy clarinetsarethebestNicholas Terpstra's Lost Girls: Sex and Death in Renaissance Florence is a thoughtful examination of a thoroughly fascinating question - why the adolescent girls in the Casa della Pieta were dying in alarming numbers - that reaches a satisfying; if not definitive; resolution. Terpstra's explanation of the role in the social structure of sixteenth-century Florence of the Pieta and its patrons is made even more interesting by his obvious deep concern for the women. I certainly enjoyed this book a great deal.The problem; however; lies in the editing. Though Terpstra's habit of referring to the three girls he mentions near the beginning gets somewhat annoying (how many times do we really need to hear the phrase "girls like Margherita; Maria; and Maddelena"?); what's even more disturbing is how many sentences appear to have been left unchecked. The book is riddled with editing errors. For example; near the end; when Terpstra is considering the effects of French pox (most likely syphilis; in modern terms); the following sentence appears:"They were more likely to visit prostitutes and brothels and were more likely to be exposed to the disease and later to pass it on to their wives; who could in turn infect pass it on to their children." (pp. 160-161)It's fairly clear that Terpstra meant either to claim that mothers could "infect" or "pass it on to" their children; but the sentence construction makes no sense as-is. In these instances I think that the Johns Hopkins University Press has done the book a disservice.Nevertheless; this book is otherwise quite good and is definitely worth reading.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A fine example of avant-garde scholarshipBy Steven D. SargentTerpstra's book is a fine example of avant-garde scholarship that pushes the boundaries of historical speculation to the limit. This does not mean that his analysis is driven by theory: quite the opposite. His meticulous research seeks out every scrap of evidence bearing on the question of what was killing the girls of the Casa della Pieta; a home for abandoned teenage girls in sixteenth-century Florence. But all his effort comes up short of providing a definitive answer. Nevertheless the value of the book lies in the questions he asks and the logic of his analysis of the possible causes. And even if he can't provide a definitive answer to the book's main question; his work reveals in sordid detail the effects of Florentine sexual politics in the late Renaissance on the lives of teenage girls. In the concluding chapter; paying homage to Natalie Zemon Davis's famous work; Fiction in the Archives; he shows us how historians' accounts of the same events can differ radically based on their differing perspectives and purposes. This means that it is virtually impossible ever to be sure we know "what actually happened." As this conclusion indicates; Terpstra's book is scholarly in its approach and requires a fair amount effort and determination on the reader's part. I've assigned it to upper-level university students who find it a bit of a slog. But for those who really want to know what Renaissance Florence was like in all its grittiness; this is a must-read book.
