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"The Story of the Barbary Corsairs" by Stanley Lane-Poole, J. D. Jerrold Kelley. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

For more than three centuries the trading nations of Europe were suffered to pursue their commerce or forced to abandon their gains at the bidding of pirates. From the days when Barbarossa defied the whole strength of the Emperor Charles V., to the early part of the present century, when prizes were taken by Algerine rovers under the guns, so to say, of all the fleets of Europe, the Corsairs were masters of the narrow seas, and dictated their own terms to all comers. Nothing but the creation of the large standing navies of the present age crippled them; nothing less than the conquest of their too convenient coasts could have thoroughly suppressed them. During those three centuries they levied blackmail upon all who had any trading interest in the Mediterranean. The Venetians, Genoese, Pisans in older days; the English, French, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and American Governments in modern times, purchased security by the payment of a regular tribute, or by the periodical presentation of costly gifts. The penalty of resistance was too well known to need exemplification; thousands of Christian slaves in the bagnios at Algiers bore witness to the consequences of an independent policy. So long as the nations of Europe continued to quarrel among themselves, instead of presenting a united line of battle to the enemy, such humiliations had to be endured; so long as a Corsair raid upon Spain suited the policy of France; so long as the Dutch, in their jealousy of other states, could declare that Algiers was necessary to them; there was no chance of the plague subsiding; and it was not till the close of the great Napoleonic wars that the Powers agreed, at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818, to act together, and do away with the scourge of Christendom. And even then little was accomplished till France combined territorial aggrandizement with the rôle of a civilizing influence...

For more than three centuries the trading nations of Europe were suffered to pursue their commerce or forced to abandon their gains at the bidding of pirates. From the days when Barbarossa defied the whole strength of the Emperor Charles V., to the early part of the present century, when prizes were taken by Algerine rovers under the guns, so to say, of all the fleets of Europe, the Corsairs were masters of the narrow seas, and dictated their own terms to all comers. Nothing but the creation of the large standing navies of the present age crippled them; nothing less than the conquest of their too convenient coasts could have thoroughly suppressed them.

This is the story of the Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called the Barbary PIrates or Ottoman Corsairs. Pirates and privateers based out of North Africa along the Barbary Coast, these sea raiders decimated the Mediterranean from the 16th to the 19th century. This is their story.Fully illustrated throughout to enhance the reading experience. Contents include:THE REVENGE OF THE MOORS.THE LAND OF THE CORSAIRS.URŪJ BARBAROSSA.THE TAKING OF ALGIERS.KHEYR-ED-DĪN BARBAROSSA.THE OTTOMAN NAVY.DORIA AND BARBAROSSA.TUNIS TAKEN AND LOST.THE SEA-FIGHT OFF PREVESA.BARBAROSSA IN FRANCE.CHARLES AT ALGIERS.DRAGUT REÏS.THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA.LEPANTO.THE GENERAL OF THE GALLEYS.GALLEYS AND GALLEY SLAVES.THE TRIUMPH OF SAILS.REDEMPTION OF CAPTIVES.THE ABASEMENT OF EUROPE.THE UNITED STATES AND TRIPOLI.THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS.THE FRENCH IN AFRICA.

For more than three centuries the trading nations of Europe were suffered to pursue their commerce or forced to abandon their gains at the bidding of pirates. From the days when Barbarossa defied the whole strength of the Emperor Charles V., to the early part of the present century, when prizes were taken by Algerine rovers under the guns, so to say, of all the fleets of Europe, the Corsairs were masters of the narrow seas, and dictated their own terms to all comers. Nothing but the creation of the large standing navies of the present age crippled them; nothing less than the conquest of their too convenient coasts could have thoroughly suppressed them. During those three centuries they levied blackmail upon all who had any trading interest in the Mediterranean.

The Barbary pirates, sometimes called Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Ottoman pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber inhabitants. Their predation extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa's Atlantic seaboard and even South America,[1] and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland, but they primarily operated in the western Mediterranean. In addition to seizing ships, they engaged in Razzias, raids on European coastal towns and villages, mainly in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, but also in the British Isles,[2] the Netherlands[citation needed] and as far away as Iceland.[3] The main purpose of their attacks was to capture Christian slaves for the Ottoman slave trade as well as the general Arab slavery market in North Africa and the Middle East.[2] While such raids had occurred since soon after the Muslim conquest of Iberia, the terms "Barbary pirates" and "Barbary corsairs" are normally applied to the raiders active from the 16th century onwards, when the frequency and range of the slavers' attacks increased. In that period Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli came under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, either as directly administered provinces or as autonomous dependencies known as the Barbary States. Similar raids were undertaken from Salé and other ports in Morocco. Corsairs captured thousands of ships and repeatedly raided coastal towns. As a result, residents abandoned their former villages of long stretches of coast in Spain and Italy. The raids were such a problem coastal settlements were seldom undertaken until the 19th century. Between 1580 and 1680 corsairs were said to have captured about 850,000 people as slaves and from 1530 to 1780 as many as 1,250,000 people were enslaved.[2] However, these numbers have been questioned by the historian David Earle.[4] Most of these corsairs were European outcasts and converts (renegade) such as John Ward and Zymen Danseker.[3] Hayreddin Barbarossa and Oruç Reis, Turkish Barbarossa Brothers, who took control of Algiers on behalf of the Ottomans in the early 16th century, were also notorious corsairs. The European pirates brought advanced sailing and shipbuilding techniques to the Barbary Coast around 1600, which enabled the corsairs to extend their activities into the Atlantic Ocean.[3][unreliable source?] The effects of the Barbary raids peaked in the early to mid-17th century.

CONTENTS.INTRODUCTION.I. PAGESTHE REVENGE OF THE MOORS. 3-13Centuries of piracy, 3--The Moslems take to the sea, 4--African fleets, 7--Effects of the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, 8--The delights of piracy, 9--Retaliation of the Moors, 10--Don Pedro Navarro, 12--The building of the Peñon de Alger, 13.II.THE LAND OF THE CORSAIRS. 14-27The Barbary Peninsula, 14--Command of the narrow seas, 15--Barbary ports and havens, 16--Character of the country, 20--North-African dynasties, 21--Relations between the rulers of Barbary and the Christian States, 22--Piracy discountenanced, 24--Christian Corsairs, 25--Growth of sea-roving, 26--The coming of the Turks, 27.

The Barbary Corsairs were a group of pirates that operated out of the northern African ports of Salé, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli during the Sixteenth century. This book offers a fascinating insight into the endeavours of these infamous privateers, and is highly recommended for those with an interest in the subject. Contents include: “The Revenge of The Moors”, “The Land of the Corsairs”, “The Corsair Admirals”, “Uruk Barbarossa. 1504-1515”, “The Taking of Algiers: 1516-1518”, “Kheyr-Ed-Din Barbarossa: 1518-1530”, “The Ottoman Navy: 1470-1522”, “The Petty Pirates”, “The Abasement of Europe: 16th to 18th Centuries”, etcetera. Edward William Lane (1801 - 1876) was a British translator, lexicographer, and orientalist. He is most famous for his translation of "One Thousand and One Nights". Many antiquarian texts such as this - particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before - are increasingly hard to come by and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now, in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

When the blue Mediterranean turned blood red Powers that rise must fall-it is the way of things and is true of all, from the smallest realms to the mightiest of empires. There is no place on earth where this is more evident than in the lands and waters of the Mediterranean, where once the Greeks held sway, then Rome fought and conquered Carthage as it spread its influence-and the Christian faith-throughout Europe. In the 7th century, in the Arabian Peninsula, the prophet Mohammed founded Islam; it too spread quickly. It became inevitable that these two great empires of faith would both seek to dominate the region; so there came a time when Christianity and Islam overlapped and the crescent banner flew on the battlefields of Europe and particularly of Spain. By the beginning of the 14th century only Al-Andalus remained in Muslim hands and in 1492 Granada fell to the Catholic monarchs and the Moors pushed back to North Africa. Now the west began to separate from the east and territories and battle lines were drawn; the day of the Barbary pirate had come. Allied to the Ottoman sultan these ruthless freebooters were a powerful force able to hold cities and territories and to engage in pitched battles and lightning raids in search of goods and slaves. The story of the sea war of the Mediterranean, between Islam and the great sea-going city states of Europe and the famous Knights of St. John, makes fascinating reading. The Battle of Lepanto broke the corsairs as a major threat, but what makes this account especially interesting is that it follows the activities of the corsairs-who were still a formidable force-into the 19th century. Here the reader will discover the actions of the United States Navy at Tripoli, the Battle of Algiers in 1816 and the final struggles against the French at the close of the century. This is a fascinating and engrossing read for any enthusiast of naval and maritime history. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

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