REVIEWS
Cajiain O:Jok's Second \byage oflacnry
come togecher in che lacesc offering fro m Archur Cohn and che Lake C hamplain M aricim e Museum . This richly-illuscraced volume gives a colorful and encicing overview of Lake C hamplain's sailing canal boars and their role in ch e region's historically vigorous maricime crade. Whac m akes chis publicacion uniq ue is ics incegrati on of ch e museum's solid research, archaeology, and repli ca program s, in parti cular, the building of the replica canal schooner Lois McClure (launched July 2004) . Abundan d y illustrated, yec filled with concise in fo rmacio n on che developmenr of maricime comm erce o n Lake C hamplain, Cohn examines Na tive secdem enc and early European use of th e lake before the opening of che C hamplai n Canal in 1823. Vivid hisroric phorographs illusrrace che boom years of the l 9ch cenrury. Twencieth-century ph oros show the Champlain Valley adapting ro changing eco nomic conditions and techn ological advances. The fin al sectio n is dedicated ro th e museum's outstanding efforts ro "rediscover hisrory." From che replica Revoluci o nary War gunboac Philadelphia II ro che Lake C hamplain U nderwacer Preserve Program, th e museum and its research inscicute have m ade incredibl e archeological breakth ro ughs, including che discovery and documentacion of cwo 1862-class canal schooners, General Butler and O.j. Walker. Im ages of shipwrecks, as well as seep-by-seep phoros from che bui lding of Lois McClure make chis a unique resource for hisrorians, archaeologists, divers, and boatbuilding enchusiascs. CATHY GREEN
Alpena, Mi chigan
Hudson's Merchants and Whalers: Ihe Rise and Fall ofa River Port 1783-1850, by Margaret B. Sch ram (Black Dome Press, H ensonville, NY, 2004, 209pp, illus, biblio, index, ISBN 1-883789-39-7; $24.95pb) Hudson, New York, was never a m ajo r whaling port, as the author of chis lavishly-illusrraced and lovingly-produced book points o ut, yec H udson 5 Merchants and Whalers focuses specifi cally on whaling. This means that Hudson 's important early involvement in the escablishm ent of US trade with Canron, and in particular the pivo tal role played by local m erchants
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in the hisrories of the gi nseng and maritime fur trades is neglected . No netheless, chis local hisrory is an amactive addi cion to che bookshelf of anyo ne interested in the srory of maritim e New Yo rk, particula rly those who have visiced che area. J OAN D RUETT
Wellington , New Zealand
Villains ofAll Nations: Atlantic Sea Pirates in the Golden Age, by M arcus Rediker (Beacon Press, Bosron, 2004, 240pp, il lus, n o tes, index, ISBN 0-8070-50024-5; $24hc) Pirate books of one sort or another h ave become an induscry un ro themselves. They have become a pop cul ture ph enom eno n, and piraces have been cransfo rmed inro che bad boy pop scars of li ceracure and screen . Rediker's lacesc book, Villains ofA ll Nations, turn s che foc us away from che swashbuckli ng side of che genre and leaves che cudass-in-clenched-ceech ro ochers. In scead he loo ks ac che mocives chat drove several chousand men in ro chis crade during che pinn acle of che go lden age of piracy from 17 16 ro 1726. This was the era of Bartholomew Robercs, Blackbeard, and several of che o cher infamous sea dogs who sailed under the Jolly Roger. Rediker does no r wrice a series of flu ffy biographies, inscead he cal ks abo ut che conditio ns and issues of che rime that fed pi race ships wich ch eir crews. H e talks abour piracy alm osc as a sailor's righcs issue, a class scru ggle, and che evolutio n of an egal irari an society created by men who aband o ned che m istreacment and unfairn ess fo und aboard merchant ships. They joined the brotherhood of the waves, creacing ch eir own set of social rules ro meec the specific needs and cemperaments of this special breed of seamen . Nocwithstanding some readability and co ntin uity issues, che book does a great job in explaining the reali cies of th e social issues of the rime and offers a co mprehensible scale ro chis niche pirace wo rld chrough detailed scatistics, a definabl e timel ine, and a shifci ng geographic playing field. It is interescing that fro m the start, Rediker often puts the reader o n the scaffold alo ngs ide several of these m e n and uses their las t wo rds ro depi ct an a ttitude cowards autho ri ty that seems to d efin e Piracy as a social phenomenon.
SEA HISTORY 110, SPRIN G 2005