research question/conspiracy theory: how much of our knowledge of 1600s-1700s Caribbean pirates is from a single book, and how reliable is that book?
The book is A General History of the Pyrates, published in 1724 by "Captain Charles Johnson," which is a pseudonym. The real author is unknown and being that it's from 1724 of course it doesn't cite sources for its information.
And its information is the biographies of all the iconic pirates: Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Black Bart, Stede Bonnet, Ned Low, Mary Read, Anne Bonny... anyone who's anyone in pirate mythology. This specific book is cited in any biography of any of these people. And if you ever see a transcription of a "Pirates' Code" that looks convincingly old-tymey I guarantee you it's verbatim from this book.
I'm away from home tonight so can't do the research myself yet, but I'm writing this out as partly reminder to self, partly open question - did Charles Johnson just make shit up? I don't think he entirely made up all the Caribbean pirates, I'm fairly sure there's court records and first-hand accounts of some of them, but I'm curious how much of our Pirate Canon might actually be escapist fiction for bored 18th century Londoners.
