Books
I haven't read many books over the last few years for several reasons, but one of my resolutions for 2024 is to read more. Part of my plan involves listening to audiobooks during my commute and my lunch break. Hopefully that will help me achieve my reading goals!
My notes on some of the books I've read this year can be found below.
February 2024
Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign by Stephen Talty (finished February 5): This is a good, very readable book on piracy and privateering in the Caribbean during the seventeenth century, focusing primarily on the exploits of Captain Henry Morgan. There are asides on the mismanagement of the Spanish Empire by its royal family and bureaucrats, sailors' superstitions, the effects of lengthy communication delays on the governance of world-spanning empires, how and why pirates and privateers tended to spend their money as quickly as possible, and various other topics. Some of these are fascinating and provide additional context for the events the author describes; others bog down the book, even if only briefly, and seem as though they may have been added to pad its word count. Additionally, the book becomes much less engaging about 80% of the way through, at which point the focus turns to Morgan's later life, decline, and death, followed by the destruction of Port Royal, Jamaica, by an earthquake in 1692. While these are important for context, I personally feel that they are by far the least interesting portions of the book and make for a bit of a weak ending.
Despite those two issues, I can say that Empire of Blue Water is, on balance, an engaging and informative book. I recommend it!