If a Pirate I Must Be

He drank tea rather than rum. He banned women and gambling on his ships. He never made prisoners walk the plank, preferring a friendly chat. And during the course of his extraordinary career as a pirate captain, he captured 400 prizes and brought trade in the eastern Caribbean to a virtual halt. Meet the real pirate of the Caribbean. Bartholomew Roberts was the greatest of Caribbean pirates, yet today he is virtually forgotten. Originally a tea-sipping, disciplined third mate, when captured by pirates for recruitment he begged to be released. But he was fearless, and a born leader. With the words 'I have dipped my hands in muddy water. And if a pirate I must be, t'is better being a commander than a common man', he became the most successful, most exciting and dynamic pirate there ever was. through telling of this remarkable story, Richard Sanders explodes the myth of pirates as ruthless cut-throats, and explores the egalitarian and homo-erotic subculture of pirates including Roberts' own intimate relationships. But more than this, he provides a pirates tour of the strange and cruel world of the early 18th century Atlantic.