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amykristen's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting topic but I found the writing dry, disjointed, and difficult to follow despite concurrently studying this period of time in our family's homeschool.
pitosalas's review against another edition
2.0
Even though I am from that thread of history, I thought this book was difficult to get through (and I didn't). Very dry, no dramatic arc or good storytelling.
kmritter's review against another edition
3.0
There were several times while I was reading this that I couldn't help but think, "That doesn't do anything for your narrative. Why am I reading this?" A lot of things seem to be thrown in as an after-thought, in which I was reminded of Monty Python's adage, "And now for something completely different."
The information was good, and interesting when I could follow it. But there were times I got bogged down in minutiae.
The information was good, and interesting when I could follow it. But there were times I got bogged down in minutiae.
twoheadedcalf's review against another edition
was excited to read this but apparently its history is pretty iffy :( maybe I’ll return to it once I have a stronger grasp of pirate history + Sephardic history
sbauer378's review against another edition
2.0
While entertaining in parts, this book is half bullshit. Kritzler gives way too much credence to testimonies gotten by torture. He also takes any myth and presents it as fact, such as Columbus secretly being Jewish.
The book really glosses over the atrocities committed by Columbus and other Europeans. There's even a vague veneer of anti-Semitism running throughout, with the author repeating a lot of stereotypes about Jews secretly controlling everything.
This book is very light on Jewish pirates, despite the title. The author doesn't even really get to the Caribbean until halfway through. Most of the last chapter is actually all about Henry Morgan. Finally, the author jumped back and forth in the timeline a lot, which made it hard to keep things straight.
The book really glosses over the atrocities committed by Columbus and other Europeans. There's even a vague veneer of anti-Semitism running throughout, with the author repeating a lot of stereotypes about Jews secretly controlling everything.
This book is very light on Jewish pirates, despite the title. The author doesn't even really get to the Caribbean until halfway through. Most of the last chapter is actually all about Henry Morgan. Finally, the author jumped back and forth in the timeline a lot, which made it hard to keep things straight.
lit_chick's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I was a little mired in the end notes and all the characters, but I learned a lot about this period of history, which is often glossed over in history courses, despite our undying fascination with Columbus and the age of exploration.
This is really the story about how the Jews, driven from country to country in Europe, seize the opportunity to explore the new world in the hopes of finding a safe refuge where they can live and work without the constant fear of the Inquisition. Well-researched and interesting, it's a good read if you want to learn more about the colonial era and like all that European political intrigue.
This is really the story about how the Jews, driven from country to country in Europe, seize the opportunity to explore the new world in the hopes of finding a safe refuge where they can live and work without the constant fear of the Inquisition. Well-researched and interesting, it's a good read if you want to learn more about the colonial era and like all that European political intrigue.
zhelana's review against another edition
3.0
Well, we have pirates of the Caribbean. We have Jews in the New World. And we have a Jewish Pirate. But I'm not certain we have plural Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean. There was one chapter on pirates, and the rest of this book talked mostly about New World settlements and how the Jews lived in them. Still, it was quite interesting, and I'll be suggesting it to my Jewish book club.
ewizard's review against another edition
1.0
Ahistorical and bad. Positions Jewish complicity in colonialism as somehow emancipatory and refers to the deaths of indigenous people as "expiration." I did not enjoy this and do not recommend it.