Richard Blakemore
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Biography
Richard Blakemore has studied pirates for over a decade, from his Cambridge Ph.D to his role as Associate Professor in Social and Maritime History at the University of Reading, where he teaches the most popular module, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Empire, Slavery, and Society, 1550-1750’. He has been a consultant for the National Maritime Museum; appeared on local and national BBC radio; on Channel 5’s Great British Ships; produced two series of podcasts; and written for blogs and magazines such as History Today.
ENEMIES OF ALL (2024)
A masterful narrative history of the dangerous lives of pirates during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, revealing their unique impact on colonialism and empire.
The pirates that exist in our imagination are not just any pirates. Violent sea-raiding has occurred in most parts of the world throughout history, but our popular stereotype of pirates has been defined by one historical moment: the period from the 1660s to the 1730s, the so-called “golden age of piracy.”
A groundbreaking history of pirates, Enemies of All combines narrative adventure with deeply researched analysis, engrossing readers in the rise of piracy in the later seventeenth century, the debates about piracy in contemporary law and popular media, as well as the imperial efforts to suppress piracy in the early eighteenth century.
Transforming how readers understand the history of pirates, Enemies of All presents not only the historical evidence but, more importantly, explains the consequences of piracy’s unique influence on colonialism and European imperial ambitions.
