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| The Sack of Panama: Captain Morgan and the Battle for the Caribbean | 
| Author: Peter Earle
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $4.39
You Save: $21.56 (83%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 260920
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312361424
Dewey Decimal Number: 972.8702
EAN: 9780312361426
ASIN: 0312361424
Publication Date: February 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Captain Henry Morgan's capture of the city of Panama in 1671 is seen as one of the most audacious military operations in history. In The Sack of Panama , Peter Earle masterfully retells this classic story, combining thorough research with an emphasis on the battles that made Morgan a pirate legend. Morgan's raid was the last in a series of brutal attacks on Spanish possesions in the Caribbean, all sanctioned by the British crown. Earle recounts the five violent years leading up to the raid, then delivers a detailed account of Morgan's march across enemy territory, as his soldiers contended with hunger, tropical diseases, and possible ambushes from locals. He brings a unique dimension to the story by devoting nearly as much space to the Spanish victims as to the Jamican privateers who were the aggressors. The book covers not only the scandalous events in the Colonial West Indies, but also the alarmed reacions of diplomats and statesmen in Madrid and London. While Morgan and his men were laying siege to Panama , the simmering hostilities between the two nations resulted in vicious political infighting that rivaled the military battles in intensity. With a wealth of colorful characters and international intrigue, The Sack of Panama is a painstaking history that doubles as a rip-roaring adventure tale.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Excellent June 28, 2008
Peter Earl does it again. There have been a few titles on Henry Morgan's exploits on the Spanish Main lately, but this one really stands out from the pack. Earl's excellent bibliography demonstrates his superior scholarship and the maps are an excellent addition, although I do wish there were more. Still, for understanding the privateer mind in the political climate of the mid to late 17th century, I haven't found a better book. It's a great, fun read, and includes details that the military history buff will enjoy and likely not find elsewhere.
 Needs pictures June 12, 2008
This book refers to the capture of Panama City by Henry Morgan and his army of privateers in 1671. Captain Morgan and his band served the British, while Panama was owned by the Spanish. Morgan's capture of the city was an extension of the military rivalry between England and Spain. This book focuses on how this rivalry was manifested in the Caribbean Sea and Spanish Main. In particular, it follows the paths of several men on both sides of the conflict, and how their fates intertwined during Morgan's capture of Panama, and his subesequent return to Jamaica. The book's story unfolds in chronological fashion, and the author takes pains to point out events that could be open to interpretation. The book is written like a historical commentary, with the author telling the story, and interjecting occasionally to offer opinions. For such a subject, the book only provides one big map of the entire Spanish Main. This is unfortunate, and the author should have provided a detailed map for each chapter to help the reader locate the events of each chapter. An overall timeline would have been nice too, along with photos or drawings of some of the places such as Port Royal, Panama City, etc... All told, an OK book, and not the best one to read to understand this episode of history.
Great book finally back in print! March 1, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
One of the best things about the ongoing popularity of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies is that they have urged other studios and publishers to release treasures from their vaults in order to capitalize on the boom. Classic movies like "Sea Hawk" and "Captain Blood" finally made it to DVD... and Earle's brilliant book, "The Sack of Panama," has finally been re-released.
The book, originally published by a relatively small British press in 1981, is a nod to good ol' fashioned narrative history--unlike the "social" histories of the last half-century, it tells a single story with well-defined characters with a "plot." This isn't even a broader history of piracy, just a single historical moment.
And what a moment! Morgan's attack on Panama City (with its various antecedents) is the stuff of epics: unendurable hardship, audacity, the clash of nations, brilliant strategies made on the fly, heroism and cowardice... its all in there, larger than life. Earle does a fantastic job of chronicling these events, but wraps them around the emotions, scents and tactile sensations of the time that the reader really feels a part of this incredible adventure. I particularly remember the horrifying moment when Morgan's men, having survived an unbelievably harrowing overland march across the Panamanian isthmus where they faced starvation and disease, set upon cattle grazing outside Panama City, desperately eating the meat raw. Moments later, they set their murderous, blood-splattered eyes on on the city for the first time, and I though with a chill, "Oh, ----! This is gonna be ugly!"
But even better, Earle uses this single moment to illuminate the broader history of the era. With just a few quick pen strokes, the reader gets a genuine feel of Spain's colonial system in the Americas--its strengths and fundamental weaknesses. We understand the broad political world of the Caribbean, and how it was intimately tied to Europe. The rationale (and idiocy) of the various colonial economies are made clear. This ability to tell a global story with a single representative event is what pushes this book from being good to being great.
Thanks for making this book available again!
 What? No Parrots? February 27, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
A quarter into this book I was expecting a to read a detailed account of how each pirate kept a parrot named Polly and guarded a deep hatred of Peter Pan. This book is about historical as the free brochures in a cheap hotel lobby. The brutal rape, torture and murder of innocent civilians at the hands of criminals at sea is completely whitewashed in the way only a child could.
I finished the The Sack of Panama while clinging to hope that this author would at some point serve history and his reader by presenting the other side of the rosey picture. The actual sack of Panama is one of the most brutal sets of events in history. I read in vain. Shame to the author, go to college (again).
 Romance, greed and violence: Sir Henry Morgan December 8, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
My goodness,does history repeat itself - even at our level and during our lifetimes? Long before Pirates of the Caribbean there was Errol Flynn and robust movies about the Caribbean. They were enough to fire a child's imagination; they certainly did mine.
This book does as well for it clearly and quite accurately depicts one of the Caribbean's most dastardly yet human pirates. Or should we call them solidiers of fortune serving their Virgin Queen in faraway London?
This book covers much but not all of Morgan's life and captures the adventurous life he led. The style is light, it's an easy read and serves to whet our appetites to read more about not only Morgan but that amazing buccaneeer era he helped create.
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