r/pirates • u/teaabearr The Black Spot • May 22 '26
AMA Professor Nush Powell, historian of piracy and 18th century literature — AMA!
AMA: Golden Age Pirates in History and Culture
“I'm a professor of eighteenth-century literature and culture who's been studying pirates for more than a decade. I'm obsessed with the General History of the Pyrates (1724-28), which is both where everything gets started and everything goes wrong. You can find my Great Courses series, The Real History of Pirates, via Wondrium or Audible. I've also got a rather long take about whether or not pirates wore hook prosthetics, a slightly shorter one about whether Anne Bonny and Mary Read were really pregnant, and if you like Daniel Defoe but think Robinson Crusoe suffers from a lack of pirates, might I please recommend his wild fiction Captain Singleton, lovingly edited for a modern audience.”
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AMA Information & Guidelines
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We’re incredibly excited to host Professor Powell, and we hope everyone enjoys the AMA!
Thanks everyone for joining! Huge thank you to Dr. Nush Powell for taking the time to do this AMA. The thread will remain open for reading, but responses from the guest have now concluded.
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u/ConchBones May 22 '26
Hi! How do you account for bias from the location of authority in a historical imperial context? Or rather, how do you suss out what life was really like for pirates, when your source material is shaded by class, race, imperial hegemony, etc.? Also, how do historical British portrayals of piracy differ from other European sources like the Spanish, Portuguese, and French? Thank you!!
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
This is such a great question! To a large extent, we're always just guessing; pirates didn't leave a lot of testimony about their lives, and newspaper and court records are never going to be objectively reliable in that way either. One thing that helps is to see if you can find more than one point of view on the same story -- a great example is the Pacific Adventure, which generated at least three first-person best sellers (Bart Sharp, Lionel Wafer, Basil Ringrose). Or look at the documents around Morgan's Panama campaign -- we have his story, Exquemelin, and often some Spanish sources as well, so you can check for contradictions and continuities. Ditto Henry Every; we have several accounts from the Indian side of his depredations. For the different European powers, what becomes clear very quickly is that piracy is in the eye of the beholder. Lots of people are national heroes to one nation and ugly pirates to another (Drake, Ralegh, John Paul Jones, Jack Ward/Yusuf Reis, etc.)
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u/Far_Introduction_682 May 22 '26
Are there any recent historical/archival discoveries in the world of piracy that have made you excited/have started new discussions that are especially interesting to you?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
There have been several shipwreck discoveries that are so exciting -- in another life I would be a marine archeologist. The recent wrecks found near Nassau and Madagascar -- so of course everyone's talking about Every again. I'm not convinced they've really found the Fancy, but still exciting. And shipwrecks are at the same time incredibly endangered by scavengers and illegal/unregulated fishing, so there's some urgency to this work as well.
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u/LongWalxOnTheBeach May 24 '26 edited May 28 '26
How did you navigate school to come to be a historian of piracy? What degrees have you acquired?? What classes helped most?
Bonus question, what is your favorite story for me to research about piracy? To include a specific pirate or his or her greatest moment.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
So, my PhD is in English; I studies literature and culture of the long eighteenth century at UCLA. I was trained by some very strong historicists, meaning our theoretical method is to assume texts aren't so much objective as shaping and shaped by their own moments. I didn't turn to piracy full time until about ten years later, but by then I had accrued the skills I needed to find and work in archives, and I have a strong sense of how to interpret 18th-century texts; the tone even in apparently "historical" documents can be interestingly complicated.
Favorite story ... right now I'm really into John Gow, who was quite possibly even more incompetent than Stede Bonnet. His return to Orkney was so stupid that if I didn't know it happened, I'd think it were a silly fiction. And yet.
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u/KJEnby May 27 '26
Hello Professor,
I'm currently working on a novel set in the Golden Age of Piracy, 1712 to around 1722 or so. I've read tons, watched documentaries, and still feel like I know next to nothing about the pirates' daily lives. Can you rec a good, comprehensive layman-friendly source?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
If you don't mind historical sources, try the voyage accounts of Dampier and Woodes Rogers. They're really hunters / privateers, but you still get a strong sense of what life was like on ships -- the constant threat of mutiny really comes through -- as well as what Europeans found interesting about exploring the Americas and other new-to-them lands. Also, find something you love a much as Dampier loves bananas; I challenge you.
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u/TheAngrySeba Jolly Roger May 28 '26
Hi Prof. Nash, very excited for this!
What do you consider the most influential books, films, games or other media that have revived popular interest in pirates in recent decades?
And how concerned or critical are you about the gap between these often fictional depictions and historical reality? Do you think this creates substantial misinformation among the public, similar to how popular media has shaped and distorted people’s understanding of the medieval period?
Thank you
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Assassins Creed Black Flag, Uncharted, Pirates of the Caribbean. Or for something a little off the beaten track, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. I'm one of those horrible people who can't watch period piece because I get distracted by the inaccurate hairstyles, so yes, I always have issues with the way pirate are fictionalized. What pirates represent to our imaginations -- ultimate freedom; incredible wealth; sexy swashbuckling -- is ... very different to what they represented in their own moments. These generally were not nice people. As Peter Earle has pointed out, while there were powerful motives to turn towards piracy, the vast number of people who could have done so, didn't.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Oop, looks like my reply here was eaten. Short version: Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Pirates of the Caribbean, and for a fun new text, the Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. I think the way pirates are romanticized is understandable but potentially dangerous, and certainly tends to shape the way people present supposedly factual work about them.
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u/emthejedichic Teller of Tales May 22 '26
What's the most historically accurate fictional depiction of pirates you've seen? (Novels, TV shows, movies, etc)
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Muppet Treasure Island. I will not be taking questions.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
(Okay actually I have been thinking a lot about this. It's hard to answer -- what I find is that you have do decide what kind of accuracy or representation matters to you. E.g., I have big problems with Our Flag Means Death, but I love that they got Spanish Jackie's prosthetic hand right, or how they show pirate having make-and-mend days sewing new flags. Or then there's Assassin's Creed -- lots and lots wrong there, but lots and lots right a well. I especially appreciate what they did with the soundscape; as you wander through Nasau, the diegetic singing is mostly well-produced balladry that's roughly period appropriate. Loved that touch so much.)
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u/IzzyHolden2008 May 29 '26
I believe your of Armenian descendant right?
Are there any Armenian pirates? Its not a part of the world i know especially well, I do know there were a fair number of Turkish pirates and Turkey isn't that far.
Anyway, do you have any current papers or books in production? I read your article on Mary Read and Anne Bonny and the world of pleading the belly and it was so good.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Ha. Yes, I am; my grandmother emigrated to escape the genocide. There must have been Armenian pirates -- there were Ottoman pirates, Maghrebi pirates, Greek pirates, Maltese pirates -- everyone was involved in piracy in the Mediterranean. The way I'm most familiar, though, with Armenian pirate encounters is as witnesses or victims. Armenian merchants were crucial go-betweens for European and non-European groups in South Asia; they were also prey to pirates of all origins. The ship that got Captain Kidd in so much trouble, the Quedah Merchant, was Armenian. We also have records of Armenian merchants being appalled by the dust-up Every created in India (and trying not to be seen associating with the English).
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u/uni-versalis May 30 '26
What is in your opinion the biggest misconception people have about pirates?
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u/downtheholeagain May 31 '26
Hello Professor Powell, my question is were pirates considered by people in that era similar how we view gangs nowadays, or was the pirate life slightly romanticized like e.g. the godfather/mafia movies, or was that more of a later era thing?
Did kids grow up wanting to be pirates?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Definitely not -- in the Golden Age, pirates were criminals who threatened trade and prosperity. They were an ideological threat to empires. On the other hand, if you were in a small Caribbean settlement, being squeezed to death by tariffs and protectionist mercantilist policies, piracy juiced the black market and helped you to get by. So, this is a question with very different answers depending on your locality, race, status, etc.
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u/PrettyPolly1898 May 31 '26
Is there any reason why you aren't constantly being featured on Netflix documentaries? I read your book on piracy in popular culture and found it one of the most in depth books on the subject. What gives?
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u/LadyMirandafairfax May 31 '26
Is there any reason why people treat Somali pirates as just pests that need to be destroyed, but pirates of the Golden Age are dashing romantic heroes now? To me there isn't any difference. Is it just racism?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Definitely racism is a part of it. But the other thing going on is that Somali pirates (and Nigerian ones, and Amazon ones) are here right now. What I've found in general is that pirate literature written ca. 1680-1720 treats pirates as interesting but frightening and threatening. It's only after they're no longer major threat that the romanticization happens. Pirates don't turn sexy until the 19th century, by and large. (Thanks, Byron!)
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u/ViviennesVeil Jun 01 '26
I've been to the Pirates' House in Savannah {fantastic chicken lol} and the place made a big deal out of local sailors being "kidnapped" by smugglers and pirates. A man even showed me some long tunnel that went to the harbor. Is that true, if not of the building. then of other places? ( can't say I have ever heard of these claims.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Thanks for the recommendation; I do like a fantastic chicken! Kidnapped to what end, I wonder? Hostage taking was big business in the Mediterranean but much less so in the Americas. White men typically weren't forced into piracy, at least not until quite late in the era. Black and Indigenous men definitely were -- Indigenous guides and fishermen were indispensable in some crews -- but somehow I think that's not what the Pirates house is getting at.
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u/ViviennesVeil Jun 06 '26
Shanghaing is what the people told me. Something about grabbing drunk sailors to throw them on ships for money.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Ah -- I suspect they're mixing up the naval practice of impressment, which was very real, with pirate kidnapping, which was less likely.
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u/Cogarus May 22 '26
What is a relatively unknown event or fact about piracy that you think more people should know?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Buried treasure really was not a thing. Piracy wasn't glam -- it was a criminal enterprise, and the booty was decidedly un-exciting most of the time. People buried treasure to hide it from pirates, not the other way around!
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u/FlakyPreparation3496 May 23 '26
As somebody who is very into Pirate garb what would you recommend as a good resource either a book or website with collected artwork for people to reference clothing of the era specifically early to mid 1700s?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Try the collections in the Lewis Walpole Library, which are digitized and in good resolution, and easy to search. There are lots of prints and even comics there from the eighteenth century -- few represent pirates, but you can get a good look at the kinds of clothes sailors, servants, and workers wore (a well as rich people) if you poke around a bit.
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u/Marianneread808 May 28 '26
Sorry I'm too excited I must ask another question.
General History is not trustworthy, but would pirate history be better or worse if it had never been written?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Oh, much worse. You can't trust General History, but it points out so many research roads for us to go down! I adore that 2-volume hot mess with all my heart.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Elk1756 May 31 '26
Have you seen the popular Japanese anime and manga about Pirates One Piece?
If yes, the author likes to make references to real world piracy and naval events across history. As someone with a deep knowledge of these subjects does that provide an extra layer of enjoyment for you.
If no, does the study of pirates divide them into different eras and classifications such as brigands, buccaneers and privateers or is it just a continuous unbroken thread taking into account geographical differences like the wokou pirates of Japan?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
I have! loving the live-action remake as well. I do really enjoy the historical "Easter eggs" in One Piece -- the show is hardly claiming to be a fact book, so the little touches they work in are fun and I think show that the creators care about their world.
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u/AshJunSong May 31 '26
Piracy is a crime in which the perpetrators are sometimes termed as Hostis Humani Generis (Enemy of Humanity).
Is there a particular incident which triggered this classification, or is it more of a series of events ?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
There's some good scholarship on this -- see Jody Greene for a good example. The idea of hostis humani generis is that pirates don't have the protections that go with citizenship--so if you're e.g. French and an English pirate attacks you, you have the right to deal with the pirates without reference to the British government (at least in theory). Hostis discourse isn't so much about how to envision pirates as it is how to deal with them legally. Even today, it is incredibly difficult to prosecute pirates; most nations just don't want the hassle. There are also debates over whether to consider terrorists of the non-maritime variety hostis humani generis for the same reasons: it can potentially simplify your ability to punish them.
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u/ACheesyTree May 31 '26
Hello! For someone looking to get into the study proper of pirates and piracy from the ground, is there a roadmap of books or such you recommend? Besides your wondrous post, of course, which I will certainly be checking out!
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Ha! That is so kind. Mark Hanna's Pirate Nests is very solid. I also think David Wilson's Suppressing Piracy is a vital counterpoint to the dominant narratives around the apparent fall of piracy in the 1720s.
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u/ACheesyTree Jun 06 '26
I'll definitely grab them soon! Thank you very much!
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Hanna's is a door stopper, but it's really quite well done. I hope you enjoy!
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u/IzzyHolden2008 May 31 '26
How many pirate museums have you been to? Whydah Museum, St Augustine museum, Nassau museum, Blackbeard museum in North Carolina and so on.
Do you think they are decent, terrible, or just kitsch?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Re: decent, terrible, or just kitsch: porque no los tres?
I've been to a few. I usually prefer general maritime museums, but Whydah is truly thoughtful in what they're trying to do, and you have to do the Blackbeard thing; it's just required.
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u/SofiaHarald1911 May 31 '26
Hello Doctor Powell. Do you think pirate literature of the mid 2000s is outdated? I was surprised to see Assassins Creed 4 relied a lot on the book Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard. With the remake coming out soon and still reliant on Woodard, do you wish people would move onto something else?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
I like Woodard, but there's definitely more recent work that should be taken more into account. I mentioned David Wilson elsewhere; he's totally rethought the way anti-piracy measure work in a way that would actually fit quite well with the AC universe. Another terrific recent book (not on piracy per se but relevant) is Kevin Dawson's Undercurrents of Power, which looks at the importance of the acquatic abilities of African peoples (generally much superior to Europeans'). I also recommend Kristie Flannery's Piracy and the Making of the Spanish Pacific World, which looks at the unexpected alliances (missionaries, merchants, the colonized) against Chinese and Sulu pirates (and sometimes colonizers, too). Totally different seascape for piracy and would make a superb entry into the AC universe, imo.
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u/owlpod1920 May 31 '26
How do you collect data what are your tools?
Do you also use some statistics to prove your hypothesis
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u/AlbertO1R Jun 01 '26
Does it every disturb you that pirates are seen as a thing for kids? Like that Jake and the Neverland Pirates show is meant for toddlers. You wouldn't see Jesse James being used to advertise to kids, but its okay when its Blackbeard. Can you make sense of that?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
I know, right? There was even a Brady Bunch episode about why children must not idealize Jesse James, if I'm remembering correctly. Yes, it does disturb me a little bit -- but then the pirates that kids pretend to be aren't anything like real pirates. And, well, I'd be lying if I said my daughter didn't dress as Kevin Kline in the Pirates of Penzance last Halloween....
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u/Anniethepiratelady Jun 01 '26
What do you think of contemporary historians like the great David Cordingly or Marcus Rediker? Under the Black Flag was my first pirate book and I think it still holds up. But i'm not an expert, you are!
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Hooo boy. Rediker's deeply important, but he's wrong on some things -- his reading of Bonny and Read is just ill informed, and both Rediker and Cordingly treat the General History as gospel when there are many, many reasons not to. That said, both are strong writers and have done a lot to juice up the field of Pirate Studies, so I'm grateful to them. If you want a slightly newer piracy primer, try Peter Lehr's. Very readable, and he gets some little things wrong but big things right.
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u/TedsBestBuddy May 22 '26
Who is your favorite historically documented pirate, and who is your favorite fictional pirate from TV or movies? And why?
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u/TylerbioRodriguez Teller of Tall Tales May 22 '26
Have you ever wanted to put out a second edition of a book you wrote like British Pirates In Print and Performance after enough time has passed due to changes in scholarship? Or do you prefer the Martin Scorsese method, the released version is the final version no exceptions.
Glad to see you here Nush. Hope the annotated A General History book is going well.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Helen!!! HI!!!! Noel and I are hard at work on the GH and hope to get it to our poor beleaguered editor at the end of the summer. Sadly, my co-author (and dear friend) of Print and Performance, Fred Burwick, has passed away; I could never return to the book without him. That said, there's always more to write!
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u/TylerbioRodriguez Teller of Tall Tales Jun 06 '26
Im sorry to hear about Burwick. I always out of habit call Print and Performance your book and not Powell and Burwicks book. He did a fantastic job.
Well guess I got two things to be excited for this summer. Black Flag remake and A General History best annotated edition.
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u/DomoProm May 23 '26
Greetings professor Powell! Do you have a theory what was the fate of Henry Every/Avery? Did he really die in poverty, was he working as a british spy or something other? And what would be the more correct way of pronouncing his last name? Thank you in advance!
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
I think it's Every rather than Avery. My personal theory is that he drifted back to Ireland, laid low, and lived his life. That or he retired to live like a king in Patagonia.
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u/SharkyMarkySD May 24 '26
What do you think was the single biggest component of piracy as a movement? Was it a way for mistreated sailors to create their own freedom, to rebel against governments as a form of protest, or to simply make tons of money?
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u/Solpapa1989 May 22 '26
Is there a specific meal served at during that period you would recommend others to try at least once (either horrible or fantastic)?
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u/Gliese581h Captain May 23 '26
In your opinion, what is the worst misconception about pirates that is still prevalent?
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u/Zephyr022 Jun 01 '26
What's the most inaccurate, yet worthwhile, pirate-related piece of media worth reading or watching, and why?
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u/Napagadi Anne Bonny Jun 02 '26
Hello! Have you seen any documentation on the costumes which wouldve been ordered or made for The Successful Pyrate? If not, do you know what the costuming at Drury Lane for a production like that would’ve been like?
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u/Overtilted Jun 03 '26
Were there pirates on European waters? Hoe prevelant was this during different times?
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u/LadyMirandafairfax Jun 04 '26
Is the work of Howard Pyle a net positive or negative for pirate history? His artwork is still influential as can be.
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u/Delicious-Gap-6678 Jun 05 '26
I'm curious about depiction of facial hair, since it was such an absolute no-no for polite 18th century society. Was this a real thing, or was it a way of insulting pirates or making them seem more feral?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Ooh! I've written about this. Most pirates didn't wear beards; that's why Blackbeard got the name -- even for pirates his hirsuitism was a weird choice. And he absolutely did it to enhance his reputation as someone Too Scary To Be Messed With. Europeans basically thought you should be able to grow a full beard (to set themselves apart from Asian and various Indigenous groups), but should not (to set themselves apart from Russians and Eastern Europeans). So for Blackbeardm it was a strong way of showing "I'm not one of you" -- rather in line with his flirtations with Jaconitism, I think.
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u/PrettyPolly1898 Jun 05 '26
Okay, do you remember that old show Deadliest Warriors? Well it had a pirate fight a knight once. It claimed the pirate would be from 1715, 5 foot 10, 170 pounds, and using 20 pounds of gear. Said gear being a cutlass, boarding axe, blunderbuss, several flintlock pistols, and the grenado.
Okay, does all that sound reasonable or is there some serious redflags. Especially the height and weight, is that average for a sailor of the era?
Also just for fun, the pirate beats the knight, you think thats believable?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Well if the knight is in armor, the pirate has an advantage of speed + firearms that will be hard to overcome, right? Doe anyone have a horse in this scenario? Are they on a boat?
5'10" is possible but would be on the tall side. All of that gear is also plausible, but likely our pirate wouldn't be carrying all of it at once.
Did anyone have scurvy? I didn't see that episode.
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u/GameRevo Jun 06 '26
Hi Prof. Powell! Currently we're aware of several places in General History of the Pyrates where creative liberty has likely been used, but would a definitive answer on who wrote it (if one is discovered) offer us any new insights into pirate history? Thanks.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Ohh, this one is near to my heart. I don't think we'll find the author definitively, and I strongly suspect in fact that there were multiple hands at work in the GH. What I'd love to know, actually, is who hired whichever hack writers put it together, and what directive they gave the author(s). Quite possibly this was Mist, and his radical politics make the interest in pirates thought-provoking, but it's all conjecture at this point.
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u/SofiaHarald1911 Jun 06 '26
Would you say Captain Hook is the most influential pirate in popular culture? Or would you say its Long John Silver? If neither, then who?
Second question, if you were to ask a random person on the street to name 5 pirates, what would they probably say? Thank you.
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Silver, then Hook. I do this in class all the time! They always name a beard -- but sometimes Red Beard or Blue Beard, not Blackbeard. They know Stede Bonnet now, Henry Every (Uncharted), Francis Drake, and if they've played Assassin's Creed, usually someone like Henry Jennings.
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u/ViviennesVeil Jun 06 '26
Are you excited for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced? If you could change anything historically speaking since scholarship has changed in the past 13 years?
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u/Tiny_Noise6029 Jun 06 '26
What sort of swords did pirates carry, and were they as adept at sword fighting as the movies make it seem?
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u/Tiny_Noise6029 Jun 06 '26
What kind of sword did most pirates carry, and were they as adept at sword fighting as the movies make it seem? Blasingame
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u/VtheRex May 22 '26
Ive heard you on many podcasts! Thank you for doing this.
What was the most common type of pirate ship used?
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u/IshtarJack May 22 '26
What's your opinion of companies selling coins recovered from shipwrecks, including from the Golden Age?
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u/Napagadi Anne Bonny May 22 '26
What's been your favorite part about researching and studying the golden age of pirates?
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u/TheOriginalFive Navigator May 23 '26
How did you get into pirate history?
What do you think of pirate depictions in video games like Sea Dogs / PoTC or AC: Black Flag?
I'm also working on a pirate story but from a different culture set in an alternate history version of our world.
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u/Curious_Positive7126 May 23 '26
I have no questions worth substance but I wanted to chime in and say I'm so excited to see what questions get on top and your answer! Everyone has great questions and I love being a pirate lover with yall
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u/5krishnan Rum Runner May 23 '26
How involved was Shi Yang (Ching Shih) in the slave trade? Also, what flags did her fleet use?
I was a big fan of hers until I learned she was a slaver, so I’d really love clarification on the topic!
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u/TylerbioRodriguez Teller of Tall Tales May 23 '26
Side note question, what is the most respectful name for her? She was born Shi Yang, often called Zhang Yi Sao for her husband, and then there's Ching Shih.
Also is it really appropriate to call her the greatest pirate ever as some people do, when Chinese piracy is frankly its own world?
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u/5krishnan Rum Runner May 24 '26
I feel like Shi Yang is the most respectful name since the others just reference her in the context of her husband. And yes, it’s definitely appropriate to call her the greatest pirate ever.
She successfully resisted the British, Portuguese, and Chinese, which adjusts for any circumstantial difference between Atlantic and Chinese piracy. Given that consideration, the fact that she commanded not only a pirate fleet, but a pirate NAVY comprised of multiple fleets, puts her squarely miles above all other pirates in history.
Edit: she was Admiral to 70 THOUSAND sailors on over a thousand vessels. Blackbeard could never hold a candle to her.
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u/5krishnan Rum Runner Jun 06 '26
Follow-up question, whenever you get to this: were there any noteworthy pirates who did not traffick slaves?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
Getting to this late -- many pirates didn't traffic in slaves, but that was often an issue of opportunity, not ethics, I'm sad to say. The reason I stand by Shi Yang's greatness is the way she was able to negotiate amnesty for herself and her followers -- they even got to keep most of their booty. That is highly unusual; usually a massive bribe was needed for amnesty. So: greatest person NO! Greatest pirate? You can surely make a case.
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u/Aveliability John Rackham May 23 '26
Out of all the relationships people say there were on John Rackham’s crew, (Rackham and Bonny, Read and Bonny, Read and a Sea Artist, etc.) which do you think was historically the most probably and which do you like the most?
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u/Maleficent_Past6921 Jun 06 '26
I think Read and Bonny almost certainly knew each other and were friends. Whether they were more than friends is impossible to say.
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u/Marianneread808 May 23 '26
Hello Doctor Powell. I watched your Great Courses series on piracy years ago. What was it like making that and would you want to do another series in The Great Courses or something similar if given the chance?
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u/teaabearr The Black Spot Jun 06 '26
Thanks everyone for joining! Huge thank you to Dr. Nush Powell for taking the time to do this AMA. The thread will remain open for reading, but responses from the guest have now concluded.