Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #338856 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 720 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Historian Davis contemplates the New Orleans privateers Jean and Pierre Laffite, who loomed large in Gulf Coast waters—and in history—from about the time of the Louisiana Purchase and into the 1820s. Although adding little new research, Davis (Lincoln's Men), director of programs for the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, does an admirable job of recounting the brothers' true story, separating fact from clouded legend. The senior brother and brains of the operation, Pierre, was born in Bordeaux, France, around 1770. His half-brother Jean followed about 12 years later. By 1803 the brothers were in New Orleans and soon embarked on careers as privateers with a presence extending as far as Pensacola and Galveston. Davis is particularly strong in revealing the brothers as complex if ruthless businessmen who, while savaging the trade of Spanish merchants on the gulf, formed the foundation for a profitable syndicate. Their associates included leading citizens and government officials on the take. The Laffites themselves, however, became notorious only when they courted the Spanish and betrayed their allies. Davis tells their story eloquently and with some admiration, while at the same time acknowledging that the freewheeling Laffites spent as voraciously as they earned and squandered their empire, leaving nothing behind but their legend. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Most Americans familiar with Pierre and Jean Laffite associate them with their aid to American forces during the War of 1812. But the lives and exploits of these brothers were more complicated and interesting than a minor footnote of history. Davis, director of programs at the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies and a teacher of history at Virginia Tech, has written an engrossing and exciting chronicle of these men and their times. Their story ranges from their ancestral homes in southwestern France to the Louisiana bayous, and it includes privateering, piracy, and espionage as France, Spain, Britain, and the U.S. vie for control of the Gulf region. Like other historians, Davis never quite gets a handle on the "true" character of the Laffites. At times, they seem to be brutal, ruthless buccaneers. At other times, they appear as entrepreneurs and savvy businessmen who skillfully navigate the borders of legality. Davis also provides an interesting glimpse at the culture of early nineteenth-century New Orleans, where a diverse ethnic and racial population fosters a rich social milieu. This is an excellent examination of interesting, tough men who knew how to survive in an interesting, tough age. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

Probably the final word on the Laffites
Davis provides an excellent history of the Laffites and piracy on the gulf coast in general. The Pirates Laffite is especially valuable to readers interested in the gulf pirates of the early-1800s because so many of the works in that field have been based upon legend. While Davis deals with the legends when necessary, his work focuses on the stories that can be verified. His extensive research in both American and European archives as well as his always good writing make this a book to own.

In the context of their time
Pirates offers an interesting perspective of the period and the Gulf of Mexico. Most history is written about the winners. The Laffites are not winners, they are simply pirates operating under the ruse of being privateers. Davis portrays them as quintessentially fluid in their ability to change allegiances on a whim, or rather an utter lack of allegiance to anything other than their next deal. The smuggling of captured goods up into the bayou country is fascinating as is the acceptance of the brothers, their ilk and their trade by the citizenry of New Orleans (and the lower Mississippi River) for the inexpensive goods (and slaves)they provided.

Anyone interested in the early history of the US, anyone who liked David Niven's War of 1812, the intrigues of Aaron Burr and Col. James Williamson, Andrew Jackson's efforts in the west of the early 1800s, or the numerous plots to wrest Texas from the Spanish during this period, will find this a must read. (Ditto for all who live or are interested in southern Louisiana.)

Remarkable Work!
Several years ago as a guest at Jean Lafitte National Park in New Orleans, the park ranger informed our group, "Unfortunately, little is known about the Laffites." Thanks to Mr. Davis, that statement is no longer accurate.

Jean and Pierre Laffite's lives have always been intertwined with New Orleans, Andy Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans but there is much more to their amazing story than any of us ever realized. Their influence spanned not only New Orleans but the entire Gulf of Mexico from Cuba and Mexico to Jamaica, Panama, the Windward Islands, the Bahamas and Cartagena, Columbia. More amazingly, their influence was directly felt by Spain, Mexico, Washington, New York, the Carolinas, Florida and Texas. Yes, they were so early in Texas history that they are credited with founding Galveston after they were forced from Barataria Bay.

As opposed to the mythical bit players most of us are aware of, Jean and Pierre dominated piracy and intrigue throughout the Gulf of Mexico for over 20 years. Labeled as corsairs and buccaneers for their methods, these brothers ran a privateering cooperative that provided contraband goods to a hungry market and made life hell for the Spanish merchants of the Gulf. Piracy was a growth business and these boys were very serious entrepreneurs. Later, as piracy as an approved economic endeavor waned, they became critical members of a New Orleans syndicate that included lawyers, bankers, merchants and corrupt US officials.

This is their story, exceedingly well researched and superbly written, an unvarnished tale of national intrigue and foreign spying that defined and redefined not only piracy throughout the Gulf of Mexico, but the wars and population movements of the time.