Hunting Pirate Heaven

Unless you are a lot more adventurous than I am, the closest you will ever get to most of the places and people described in this book is reading the book. Mr. Kevin Rushby deserves great credit for taking on a very dangerous and unpleasant journey in search of what utopian life in the tropics really provides. His talent for taking situations seriously and letting his imagination run wild provides the book with a fiction-like quality that makes the writing more vivid and interesting than in most non-fiction books.

What little we know about pirates mostly comes to us through fiction . . . often built on bits and pieces of what people have claimed to be true about pirates. Mr. Rushby did his homework before starting by locating the regions on the Indian Ocean on or adjacent to Mozambique where pirates were supposed to have been active. From these stories, he heard tales of "edens" where pirates went to rest up . . . or even retire. "What were these edens like?" he wondered.

Starting from the area where the British East India Company launched its first voyages 400 years ago, he quickly moved to a freighter leaving South Africa so he could hedge-hop the coast of Mozambique. From there, his accommodations and creature comforts went mostly downhill. As he visited each area, he asked about pirates . . . but usually didn't learn very much until almost the end of the trip. But he did meet modern equivalents of people living in tropical "paradises" and he often reflects on what he finds. He often finds "trouble in paradise" as well as paradise.

Along the way, he suddenly discovers that not everyone is as friendly as they might be. Nature can be dangerous, too!

I did grade the book down one star though. Why? I found that this would have been a better book if it had focused simply on what life is like in that part of the world . . . and either mentioned the pirates in passing or skipped them. I found the pirates to be more of a distraction than an appeal in my reading.

But if you are a great fan of books about pirates (no matter how remote the connection is), you will probably enjoy learning about the current reality and the ironies these facts reveal about the legends.

A travel adventure rather than a piracy book (3/3 people found this helpful)

A very enjoyable and entertaining travel adventure giving a good insight into the life and history of the islands off the East African coast. Many colourful characters and events really bring the adventure to life and more than compensate for the somewhat lack of evidence of piracy uncovered.

Riveting! (5/5 people found this helpful)

Rushby has the knack for combining scholarly research with actual experience. I was both pleased and saddened when I finished reading this book: pleased because it offers a superb insight into the history of piracy, all of which is couched in the language of a master raconteur; and sad because the last page came all too soon!

Must read (3/3 people found this helpful)

As I read in the Sunday Times the best way to recommend this book is "rush and buy". Hunting Pirate Heaven opens up a different view of pirates to the traditional one we all hold. The author travels in search of the roots and descendants of the real pirates and the Utopia they were looking for. His story is fascinating, he reveals the truth behind the myths, finds Utopia and tells many amusing tales of his journeys along the way.

Kevin Rushby

Reader Reviews:

A Death-Defying Search for the Pirate Edens in East Africa (6/6 people found this helpful)

A travel adventure rather than a piracy book (3/3 people found this helpful)

Riveting! (5/5 people found this helpful)

Must read (3/3 people found this helpful)

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