It is a long book, but good for those interested in the subject of piracy.

Benerson Little, a former Navy SEAL, has written an excellent reference work on how piracy actually worked. In short, it's not anything like the mythical descriptions we get from cinema or novels.

The depth and breadth of his scholarship, as evidenced by this work, is highly commendable. He ranges from detailed descriptions/explorations of weapons and tactics to the dynamics of contracts, leadership, and organization. It was an excellent read and I particularly liked it since it provided me more insight into how warfare, outside the confines of most forms of legality or convention, is waged in a modern context.

For example: He details how a pirate crew is put together, from financing to recruitment to employment contracts (the articles) to financial compensation. To me, this was valuable since many of the financial dynamics he details are present in modern criminal economies, from the cyber crime of the Russian Business Network to the IED cell operating in Iraq.

Another example: Very precise examination of the armaments and ships used by pirates to ply their trade. Everything from the advantages of multi-shot and flintlocks to the efficacy of oars and canoes. For me, it was a very illuminating exploration of how weaponry can be altered to provide tactical advantages to an outnumbered and outgunned attacker.

So, if you are interested in finding out how pirates truly operated - or - you want to gain a more insight into 21st Century guerrilla warfare, this is the book for you. Buy it today, read it, and pass it on to a friend.

Final note: Benerson should be giving classes on this subject at Annapolis and West Point (I am sure he would be oversubscribed).

Hope this helps,

John Robb
Author of: Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

I would like to offer a little more balanced review of this book, which otherwise seems to only get rave endorsements.

First, the good part. This book indeed seems to be a scholarly study of all things related to sea rovers. It is funny at times and can be a good read.

However, being a novice in the area of sea faring and sailing I found it hard to understand and less of a satisfying or interesting read than it potentially could have been. It also is dry and heavy on factual statements, like a boring academic course, and low on anecdotes and entertainment. Other reviewers seem to imply that the book is based on personal pirate stories but references to these in the book are rarely more than passing half sentences. The book also lacks maps and illustrations, wich makes the material all the harder to understand, for anyone but sea rovers. Maybe I am not part of the intended audience, so this review is intended for the folks like me who don't have the required background, sea roving 101, or didn't intend to take a course on the subject.

An excellent resource to understand the how-to of piracy. From firing a broadside to boarding, it gives the reader a handle on how the pirates were able to outfight and outsail their prey with smaller ships and sometimes fewer guns.

This book is not an easy read, but it's not intended to be. If you like histories of pirates or Colonial America, this is a vital reference.
The author details every aspect of the sea rover's life - ships, weapons, gear, even their compensation system.

Mr. Little is a retired US Navy SEAL officer and his experience shows, especially when discussing strategy and tactics.

The numerous appendices make this a work I'll refer to many times in the future.

This is a great backgrounder on what really was behind the privateers, buccaneers / boucaniers, filibusters / flibustier, and pirates. Focusing on a hundred year period beginning in 1630, the former Navy SEAL draws on contemporary diaries and books to describe everything from the background, motivation, tactics, equipment, and even an appendix on drinks. The reality of the sea rover's tactics are in stark contrast to the image of the Hollywood pirate. The reality were crews and officers operating under very democratic rules and performing complex operations seeking to maximize effort (return on investment).

Appropriate to the modern era of small wars? Little generally leaves it to the reading to connect to the present (absent a rare couple of modern analogies in the book), except for one paragraph at the end:

"Whatever their vices, weaknesses, and moral ambiguities, these buccaneers have in common with most sea rovers several tactical virtues, including innovation, loyalty, perseverance, adaptability, and courage. Collectively, they prove that a loose, uncentralized, and informal network can conduct significant, complex military operations. They show the effect that an irregular force can have on the resources of a powerful state, causing great economic damage and tying down significant forces. And, most importantly, they demonstrate that elements of broadly divergent and disparate cultures, races, nationalities, classes, professions, and personalities can act as one with a common goal."

My brief comments here don't do the book justice. The amount of detail Little puts in this book is sometimes mind boggling, not to say amazing. This is not a book that only looks at the past but has surprising applicability to modernity.

I have found it particularly useful in supporting various arguments about privatization of force as well as insurgent warfare.

THE SEA ROVER'S PRACTICE: PIRATE TACTICS AND TECHNIQUES 1630-1730 is based largely on first-person accounts and describes how pirates and buccaneers made sea roving a profitable business. Successful pirating was conducted on the high seas to acquire wealth: chapters come from first-person source materials and reveal all the basic details perfect for any general-interest collection where lively history is of interest.

"The Sea Rover's Practice: Pirate Tactics and Techniques, 1630-1730" by Benerson Little is a great reference tool for anyone interested in the in-depth details of how buccaneers, privateers, and pirates of the West Indies commanded and conquered.

Do not expect a storyline or biographies in this book. It is solely about tactics, as stated in the subtitle. Each section is filled with detail after fascinating detail about pirate battle strategies. You get a real understanding of why a pirate would, for instance, chose a particular weapon to use during the boarding of a ship, examining everything from the weapon's overall capacity to maim to the sturdiness of the materials used to construct it.

The book's first chapter talks of greed and desperation and the last chapter covers dying by the sword. In between, you learn about pirate ships, recruiting, arms used in close combat, watches, flags, cruising strategies, mutiny, broadsiding, pirate tricks, and many other topics. There are also appendices with items like pirate vocabulary and recipes, as well as illustrations depicting weapons (guns, swords, cannons, etc.) and the best boarding positions.

Altogether, the book is easy to read, thorough, and loaded with information. I definitely recommend it to those who want to learn more about the real pirates of the Caribbean.

For those who prefer biographies (or less strategy and more story), read David Cordingly's "Under the Black Flag" for an engrossing look at piracy throughout the ages.

Pirates are not comical, nor were they "Captain Hook" or even they "Crimson Pirate" for that matter.
They were more likely desperate men. Abused by a stratified society and longing for self-determination.
The Sea Rovers Practice lays out the real truth about these courageous and flamboyant characters. It reveals their methods and tactics in a great story that makes cheap sensationalistic fiction pale by comparison.
A must have for history lovers and pirate researchers.

Mr. Little did a great job in researching this project......as a Pirate freak I thought I had read so much of pirates that I couldn't find anything new.....this is fresh stuff. Great reading, always something new. Explains much, from firing a cannon to how pirates spoke....a very fact filled book that leaves you wishing the end of the book never came. Benerson have you a sequel? A must read for anyone with interest in sailing in those days...pirate or not... so well done I think the author was more than a Navy Seal, he was a pirate,,

Mr. Little did a great job in researching this project......as a Pirate freak I thought I had read so much of pirates that I couldn't find anything new.....this is fresh stuff. Great reading, always something new. Explains much, from firing a cannon to how pirates spoke....a very fact filled book that leaves you wishing the end of the book never came. Benerson have you a sequel? A must read for anyone with interest in sailing in those days...pirate or not... so well done I think the author was more than a Navy Seal, he was a pirate,,

Mr. Little, an experienced "rover" himself from his time in the USN SEALs, does this topic justice in his book. Well and exhaustively researched, this book gives a great peek into the reality of the pirate/privateer life that is so often romanticized in book and film.

Every aspect of the sea rovers' life is placed before the reader, from seamanship to boarding tactics, to life on shore after a successful cruise. In the back of the book, you can find statistics for firearms and great guns, several glosseries for ships and people, and even some simple recipies buccaneers would have used.

The only minor quibble I might have is that the style of the writing can seem stilted and list like, but that was not frequent and did not detract from my enjoyment of the work.

This is a must read for anyone with an interest in maratime history or pirates.