The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates (Complete Idiot's Guide to)
by Gail Selinger, Jr., W. Thomas Smith
List Price:
Our Price: $6.99
You Save: $11.96 (63%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.17 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Gail Selinger, Jr., W. Thomas SmithEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-04-04
ISBN: 1592573762
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Alpha
Book Reviews of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates (Complete Idiot's Guide to)
Book Review: Aptly Named, as It was written by an idiot...
Summary: 1 Stars
Idiot, from the Greek "idiotes" and once used to denote a person with mental retardation not only aptly describes the author of this complete waste of good trees, it also describes what the reader will be after finishing the book, should the reader lack a priori knowledge of history, literature, or pirates that did not come from a Disney film.
Gail Selinger, who may have a talent for weaving fiction (if her research and phrasing are any indication), has written a tome that claims to educate and whet the appetite for the study of piracy, an already poorly understood subject outside of its popular culture connotations, but in fact writes a pamphlet to further some biased feminist agenda. The book plays fast and loose with historical data, providing unsubstantiated claims at the best of times and downright falsehoods everywhere else. Starting with the pirates of the ancient world, Mz. Selinger's revisionist history feminist agenda emerges. It is brought into sharp focus when she moves into her glossed over discussion of the Vikings. Despite a very accurate footnote telling the reader that despite popular image Vikings never wore horned helmets, everything about the Viking chapter is ripped from pop culture and fantasy novels. Mz. Selinger seems to be under the mistaken impression that Viking women were professional warriors, Dark Ages Thelma and Louise types that took up sword and shield to raid with the men, or stayed home and defended their turf while the men went a pirating; despite all evidence to the contrary. What little information about the vikings that is presented seems gleaned from a children's encyclopedia or a role playing handbook, rather than a serious study of ancient and pre-medieval peoples. While a little fun is expected in a book with the word "idiot" in the title, to pass off such ill-researched populist pablum as scholarly research, or worse yet present it as truth, printed from a position of authority, is unforgivable. How can anything written in the book be trusted if such obvious agenda laden inaccuracies plague the first chapters? Simply, it cannot. Any truth or accuracy in the book is the merest happenstance and serendipity, as any purposeful deviation from her agenda would be anathema to this "author", whose purpose seems to focus upon misplaced feminism and abjure truth while presenting a history that never was as fact. There are much better books written covering the same material, and I urge you to seek them out instead, lest you forever remain, as the title describes, a complete idiot.
History Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in A Pirate's Life For Me
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest The Movie Storybook (Pirates of the Caribbean)by Catherine Mccafferty
Disney Press; Published: 2006-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End The Movie Storybook (Pirates of the Caribbean)by T.t. Sutherland
Hyperion Book CH; Published: 2007-04-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Junior Novel (Junior Novelization)by T.t. Sutherland
Disney Press; Published: 2007-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.00
Price in other shops:
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Junior Novelizationby Irene Trimble
Disney Press; Published: 2006-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.11
Price in other shops:
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (The Junior Novelization)by Irene Trimble
RH/Disney; Published: 2003-05-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbeanby Michael Singer
Disney Editions; Published: 2007-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops:
Pirate's Gold: A Teen Love story that includes Pirates, Pirate Treasure, and Sailing in the Caribbean!by Aaron Bud Elkin
BookSurge Publishing; Published: 2006-08-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.99
Pirates (Horrible Histories Handbooks)by Terry Deary
Scholastic; Published: 2006-07-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.40
Price in other shops:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pirates (Complete Idiot's Guide to)by Gail Selinger, Jr., W. Thomas Smith
Alpha; Published: 2006-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
The Pirate Dictionaryby Terry Breverton
Pelican Publishing Company; Published: 2004-09-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.89
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Pirate Soulby Pat Croce
Running Press; Published: 2006-10-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops:
The History of Piratesby Angus Konstam, Virginia Mariners Museum
The Lyons Press; Published: 2002-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
The Mammoth Book of Pirates: Over 25 True Tales of Devilry and Daring by the Most Infamous Pirates of All Time (Mammoth Book of)Running Press; Published: 2006-05-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.74
Price in other shops:
The Sea Rover's Practice: Pirate Tactics and Techniques, 16301730by Benerson Little
Potomac Books Inc.; Published: 2005-08-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.00
Price in other shops:
Pirate Guidelines, The: A Booke for Those Who Desire to Keep to the Code and Live a Pirate's Life (Pirates of the Caribbean)by Joshamee Gibbs
Disney Editions; Published: 2007-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.78
Price in other shops:
Piratesby John Matthews
Atheneum; Published: 2006-05-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Piratesby David Cordingly
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2006-05-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.90
Price in other shops:
Pirattitude!: So you Wannna Be a Pirate?: Here's How!by John Baur, Mark Summers, Dave Barry
Published: 2005-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
The Pirate Dictionaryby Terry Breverton
Pelican Publishing Company; Published: 2004-09-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
The Pirate Primer: Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers & Roguesby George Choundas
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2007-03-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops: