J's Pages

Part of the story of The Nautilus Sanction concerns itself with the historical personage of Jean Laffite. So just as I have been reading the fictional books which inspired the sundry Time Wars volumes, I figured that I should peruse a biography of Mssr. Laffite. The library didn't carry the volume Mr. Hawke recommended in his afterward, but it did have a copy of this book. It was a very enjoyable read. Jean Laffite (or Lafitte--spelling was very post-modern back then) is a man around whom many legends have sprung. Some say he was a ruthless, blood-thirsty killer. Others say he is a man of honor and independence. What is certain is that he came of age in the early 1800's in New Orleans. He established his fortune as a smuggler and privateer--professions which had a quasi-legal status in that time and place. When the British attacked New Orleans in the War of 1812, he proved to be a staunch defender of the city. But where some of his compatriots took advantage of their war service to go straight, Laffite resumed his old profession a few years later. He did move his operations to Galveston Island, off the Texas coast, where he enjoyed a few years of success. But as the United States started to crack down on piracy, he was forced to move again--first to Cuba and then to an island off the Yucatan peninsula. Laffite's story is an interesting one and throughout it all, Mr. Ramsay also shows the effect of changing politics and social mores. It's not a hard core history book--I would place it at high school reading level--but it is well documented and enjoyable to read. Well worth checking out. Though I love history, I have never read much about the southeastern U. S., the early years of the 19th Century or the pirates of the Caribbean. This book proved to be a voyage of discovery for me. I'm thinking that when I finish this Time Wars reading list I should delve into a survey of U. S. history. But that's a worry for another day.

LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut

// posted by John @ 6:06 PM