Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth Century Caribbean

NYU Press, 1995 - Social Science - 215 pages

Pirates are among the most heavily romanticized and fabled characters in history. From Bluebeard to Captain Hook, they have been the subject of countless movies, books, children's tales, even a world-famous amusement park ride.

In Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition, historian B. R. Burg investigates the social and sexual world of these sea rovers, a tightly bound brotherhood of men engaged in almost constant warfare. What, he asks, did these men, often on the high seas for years at a time, do for sexual fulfillment? Buccaneer sexuality differed widely from that of other all- male institutions such as prisons, for it existed not within a regimented structure of rule, regulations, and oppressive supervision, but instead operated in a society in which widespread toleration of homosexuality was the norm and conditions encouraged its practice.

In his new introduction, Burg discusses the initial response to the book when it was published in 1983 and how our perspectives on all-male societies have since changed.

What people are saying

Review: Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean

User Review  - Liane - Goodreads

A couple of years ago, I took a History of Sexuality class. For our final project, we had to read a book from the list that my teacher gave to us. As soon I saw this book, I knew I HAD to do it ...

Review: Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean

User Review  - Christopher F. - Goodreads

You have to love any scholarly work that contains the following methodological caveat: "The scarcity of data is due in part to the familiar problems of gathering information on homosexuality, but it ...

Contents

• Preface: xi
• Introduction: xxxvii
• ONE Sodomy and Public Perception i: 1
• TWO To Train Up a Buccaneer: 43
• THREE The Caribbee hies: 69
• FOUR Buccaneer Sexuality: 107
• Bibliographical Essay 1j3: 193

About the author

B.R. Burg is Professor of History at Arizona State University and the author of Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition , also available from NYU Press.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition: English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth Century Caribbean
• Contributor: B.R. Burg
• Edition: 2, reprint, revised
• Publisher: NYU Press, 1995
• ISBN: 0814712363, 9780814712368
• Length: 215 pages
• Subjects: Health & Fitness / Sexuality; Social Science / Gay Studies; Social Science / Men's Studies