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Blackbeard: The Birth of America Paperback – January 24, 2018

by Samuel Marquis (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,486 ratings
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Winner Kirkus Reviews Book of the Year Awards
Winner Beverly Hills Book Awards
Award-Winning Finalist American Book Fest Best Book Awards

Blackbeard: The Birth of America is the true story of Edward Thache--former British Navy seaman and notorious privateer-turned-pirate, who lorded over the Atlantic seaboard and Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy. A Robin-Hood-like American patriot and the most famous freebooter of all time, Blackbeard was illegally hunted down by Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood, the British Crown's man in Williamsburg obsessed with his capture. Based on reliable historical records and the latest research, this adventure tale illuminates the true man behind the myth and his doggedly determined pursuer, revealing a cat-and-mouse game and important historical figure lost to us in a "fog of legend, myth and propaganda" for three hundred years. A folk hero in his own lifetime, Blackbeard exploded onto the scene during the birth of America and was one of the first American revolutionaries in the War of Independence against British rule.
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  1. Reading age
    12 - 18 years
  2. Print length
    380 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.96 x 9 inches
  5. Publication date
    January 24, 2018
  6. ISBN-10
    1943593213
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1943593217
  8. See all details
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Popular Highlights in this book
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Previous page
  1. Don’t engage an enemy unless you can win at no cost to yourself—or are backed into a corner and have no choice.
    Highlighted by 53 Kindle readers
  2. Pirate criminality bred a sense of democracy that exposed the world’s inequality.
    Highlighted by 45 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Coalition has a lot of good action and suspense, an unusual female assassin, and the potential to be another The Day After Tomorrow [the runaway bestseller by Allan Folsom]."--James Patterson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

"Blackbeard: The Birth of America is a pleasure--a historical adventure that corrects popular assumptions about the fearsome privateer through captivating and cinematic scenes."--Foreword Reviews"Marquis writes quite well, but his real contribution with Blackbeard: The Birth of America is historical....An engrossing and historically grounded yarn."--Kirkus Reviews"Spies of the Midnight Sun is not only a skillful, rapid-fire historical spy thriller, but also a fine source on one of the least-known and most heroic chapters of the Second World War."--Kirkus Reviews"If you haven't tried a Samuel Marquis novel yet, The Fourth Pularchek is a good one to get introduced. The action is non-stop and gripping with no shortage of surprises. If you're already a fan of the award-winning novelist, this one won't disappoint."--Dr. Wesley Britton, Bookpleasures.com (Crime & Mystery) - 5-Star Review"Marquis is a student of history, always creative, [and] never boring...A good comparison might be Tom Clancy."--Military.com"Marquis is the new Follett, Silva, and Clancy rolled into one."--Prof. J.R. Welch, Editor of Dispatches from Fort Apache"An inherently fascinating and impressively informative read, Blackbeard: The Birth of America is an extraordinary and welcome addition to community and academic library American History collections in general, and 18th Century Piracy supplemental studies reading lists in particular."--Midwest Book Review"Samuel Marquis's Spies of the Midnight Sun weaves historical truth with masterful storytelling in an action-packed and intriguing tale of covert spy operations during World War II."--Foreword Reviews"The Fourth Pularchek is a thrilling story of international espionage and personal betrayal. Marquis is a master of suspense."--Kelly Oliver, Award-Winning Author of The Jessica James Mysteries

"Marquis grabs my attention right from the beginning and never lets go."--Gov. Roy R. Romer, 39th Governor of Colorado

"The Coalition starts with a bang, revs up its engines, and never stops until the explosive ending...Perfect for fans of James Patterson, David Baldacci, and Vince Flynn."--Foreword Reviews"In his novels Blind Thrust and Cluster of Lies, Samuel Marquis vividly combines the excitement of the best modern techno-thrillers, an education in geology, and a clarifying reminder that the choices each of us make have a profound impact on our precious planet."--Ambassador Marc Grossman, Former U.S. Under Secretary of State and Co-Author of Believers: Love and Death in Tehran

From the Author

It's fascinating that you're the ninth great-grandson of Captain Kidd. How has that relationship influenced your perspective and research on pirates?Most of all, the ancestral connection to Captain Kidd has made me want to strive for historical accuracy because the Golden Age of Piracy and pirates like Kidd and Blackbeard have been inaccurately portrayed in books, movies, and television. Historians, authors, and filmmakers are going to have different interpretations of character and motivation, but they should never purposefully deviate from the established historical facts. In Blackbeard: The Birth of America, I have strived for historical accuracy and there is not a single character in the book that is not based on an actual historical figure (with the exception of a quartermaster to a secondary pirate captain, whose name is unknown). I owe it to my ancestor Captain Kidd to get pirate stories right.  Now that we're 300 years away from Blackbeard's death, what do you think the most commonly held misinformation is on his life?That he was a violent, murderous cutthroat and villain. My book is dedicated to Blackbeard and the dedication says it best: "For the real Blackbeard--who has been maligned, co-opted, exploited, and misrepresented as a ruthless villain and sociopathic cutthroat in the name of propaganda and profit for three centuries now. May ye rest in peace." The truth is that probably half of the things attributed to Blackbeard are completely wrong--and my book goes out of the way to correct these errors, or at least not include them. For instance, the image of Edward Thache as a cruel and ruthless villain was largely created by propagandist newspaper accounts in London and America, the British Board of Trade, colonial governors like Alexander Spotswood, and Captain Charles Johnson's (Nathanial Mist's) A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, first published in 1724 six years after Blackbeard's death. Unlike my ancestor Captain Kidd, whom famous pirate writer-illustrator Howard Pyle said should be "relegated to the dull ranks of simply respectable people," Blackbeard has attained a mythical status. Yet he is perhaps the most misunderstood and historically misrepresented of all the sea captains who went on the account in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Blackbeard: The Birth of America aims to correct that.  How will readers of your other books connect with "Blackbeard," your first pirate story?All my books are historical fiction-suspense novels with multiple-point-of view characters from diverse backgrounds and a high degree of historical detail and authenticity--and Blackbeard: The Birth of America is no different. Readers who enjoy my books will like this historical thriller, maybe even more since it is pure history. I believe they will also enjoy the novel because it tells the story of the birth of America and one of the first American revolutionaries in the War of Independence against the British Crown.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mount Sopris Publishing (January 24, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 380 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1943593213
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1943593217
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 - 18 years
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.22 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.96 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,486 ratings

About the author

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Samuel Marquis

Samuel Marquis

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The ninth-great-grandson of legendary privateer Captain William Kidd, Samuel Marquis, M.S., P.G., is a professional hydrogeologist, expert witness, and bestselling, award-winning author of twelve American non-fiction-history, historical-fiction, and suspense books, covering primarily the period from colonial America through WWII. His American history and historical fiction books have been #1 Denver Post bestsellers and received multiple national book awards in both fiction and non-fiction categories (Kirkus Reviews and Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, American Book Fest and USA Best Book, Readers' Favorite, Beverly Hills, Independent Publisher, Colorado Book Awards, and others). His historical titles have also garnered glowing reviews from #1 bestseller James Patterson, maritime history and pirate historian Baylus Brooks, U.S. military veterans, Kirkus Reviews, and Foreword Reviews (5 Stars). Critics and book reviewers have compared his narrative style and works of history to the epic historical books of Tom Clancy, John le Carré, Ken Follett, Herman Wouk, Daniel Silva, Len Deighton, and Alan Furst. His website is samuelmarquisbooks.com and for publicity inquiries, please contact Books Forward at info@booksforward.com.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
1,486 global ratings
Disappointing
1 Star
Disappointing
I really wanted to like this book, but just couldn’t. First clue that I wasn’t going to enjoy this book was it’s poor editing (see photo for Stede Bonnet’s dates; 2017? This should have been an easy pluck for even any editor). As a student of history (BA History, ‘12, ASU), I was excited to read through the preface and recognize a number of sources that the author was supposed to be drawing from… I think the book really drew its inspiration from pop-culture pirates, and literally nothing historical.If you are looking for actual pirate history, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a romance-novel loosely based in pirate lore, this is more aligned to that genre.I did my best to choke down the first chapter while on a caribbean cruise, but ultimately had to donate this to the Ship’s library (Allure of the Seas).Bottom line for me- purchase wasn’t worth it.
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Top reviews from the United States

LeRoy C Prichard
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read, very interesting and well written.
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024
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As noted Blackbeard is a historical character of renown. The book provides a detailed narrative while providing historical insight to the times.
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Barbara Mojica
4.0 out of 5 stars Hero or Villain?
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2022
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This novel is an interesting work of historical fiction. It is carefully researched and well-written, though it probably goes a tad too long. Readers are presented with a Blackbeard who may not have been a cutthroat pirate but an early proponent of democracy. Did Blackbeard espouse the cause of the Revolution? Was this the reason the Crown was so desperate to get rid of him? How much of an influence did the pirates' system of democracy influence the times?

Perhaps Blackbeard's image as a cruel, inhumane character can be attributed to colorful imagination and oral storytelling passed down through the generations. In any case, Marquis presents an argument that must be considered. Historians spend countless hours sifting through research to form conclusions and these conclusions are often open to multiple possibilities and answers.

I would recommend the book as a thoughtful and interesting perspective on The Golden Age of Piracy and Blackbeard in particular.
10 people found this helpful
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Robert Craig
5.0 out of 5 stars High adventure, as high as it gets.
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024
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This story has it all, welll drawn characters and well told action. It makes history come alive and draws the reader into another age.
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Deanna
3.0 out of 5 stars Good But Not Great
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2023
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First a disclaimer: my disappointment largely stems from a misunderstanding of what this book was. I thought it was a biography, but it was a work of historical fiction. The events recorded seem to be accurate amd well researched. The action flows well. Yet I still struggled to immerse myself in the book - very unusual for me.
Other issues distracted me: the romance portion was sappy; the dialogue was stilted and stodgy; the detailed descriptions of apparel at times disrupted the narrative. The author recounted Spotswood's strategy, motivation, possible pitfalls, and duplicity in finite detail multiple times, even within the same chapter. The redundancy drained enthusiasm. His contention that Blackbeard and other pirates were social justice warriors modeled after Robin Hood seems a little revisionist to me. Nonetheless, Marquis beats that drum until it is a headache-inducing din.
Lastly, Marquis mixes modern English idioms and figures of speech liberally into the dialogue, diminishing the authenticity of the conversations. One minute the dialogue is formal English of the period; then it drops into classic pirate terminology straight from Pirates of the Caribbean; and then there are modern expressions well before their introduction into the vernacular (e.g., "propaganda" appears in a context that was not used until the mid-1800's; "muckraker" is used in a context some 200 years before it was coined by Teddy Roosevelt.
Again, the book is well-researched and the action flows well. Somehow, though, this author's style just did not resonate with me. I slogged through it.
7 people found this helpful
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Lou skojec
5.0 out of 5 stars Grant read , loved this story.
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2023
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The author does a great job of weaving the tale of Black beard and fills in the facts with great story telling. In my view well written and adds understanding to the man and myth of the pirate legends.
One person found this helpful
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t53woody
4.0 out of 5 stars A good story
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2024
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Black beard was a fine man and a great caller and leader. Great details about him. The story had a little too much details about the governor of Va.
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NC2CA
5.0 out of 5 stars such rich insights on early American pirating!
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2023
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Samuel Marquis brings a vast amount of research into life through such early American pirates as Blackbeard. He shares insights into how and why these pirates came to be - and the risks they faced! Verifiably thoroughly told.
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Doug McGonegal
4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting work of historical fiction
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2023
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You can tell a lot of research went into the creation of this book. The reader can develop a sense for what life was like in these times. This is a well crafted plot with lots of action.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Don Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars History read
Reviewed in Canada on April 1, 2022
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Good read , wooden ships & iron men
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Peter Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars A real eye opener
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2021
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I, like many readers, know of the brutal Blackbeard who crashed into battles with burning tapers in his beard and a desire to reek havoc to all those he and his pirates came into contact with. This excellently written book shows just how well the British government blackened his character and created myths to demonise both Blackbeard and his pirate crew. I thoroughly recommend you read this novel, it kept my attention throughout opening a window into a period of history that I frankly knew little actually about. Although great fiction, the underpinning information is drawn extensively from fact.
A great story, a great well written story . Thank you Samuel.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon CustomerNatalie Goldin
4.0 out of 5 stars Blackbeard: The Birth of America
Reviewed in Canada on December 8, 2023
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This is,a very interesting and apparently well-researched work of historical fiction. Not having previously known much on the subject of Blackbeard I was quite fascinated, especially with how the author ties in the "golden age of piracy" with the burgeoning American revolutionary movement. A very enjoyable and informative read.
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FraserD
4.0 out of 5 stars A very different slant on Blackbeard the Pirate - well worth reading
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2022
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I found a few typos and more than a few missing words, but this was a good historical novel about Edward Theach, Blackbeard the Pirate. I found the first half to be a little overly long but it took the time to introduce almost every pirate name I'd ever heard of, and then some. The book gives a real background onto the times and circumstances of the early 18th century and doesn't paint King George or the merchants in England in a good light. I found the author's style of writing to be pretty dry; almost as if it was a historical appraisal rather than a novel. However, it didn't stop me finishing the book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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A. Ghefner
4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting time in the history of America
Reviewed in Canada on April 24, 2022
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Well researched, the Blackbeard character inspired sympathy and regret when he did not make it in the last minute. I was surprised by the democratic rules the pirates lived by.
The only problem for me, was the characters did remember the past events every few pages (boring for me).
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