PIRATE ENLIGHTENMENT, OR THE REAL LIBERTALIA
by David Graeber o-o-o
Graeber weaves a convincing argument for the emergence of proto-enlightenment democracy-leaning societies within the pirate communities of early 18th century Madagascar. That part of the book however doesn't constitute much more than 25%. The remainder seems to focus on conflicting accounts concerning a handful of pirate figures, their battles, and some of their interactions, along with a handsome deal of speculative assumptions. Still worth the read for the picture it paints of pirates as an anti-hierarchal challenge to empire, capital, and in some cases patriarchy.