Books about Privateer from Amazon.com

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They were legalized pirates empowered by the Continental Congress to raid and plunder, at their own considerable risk, as much enemy trade as they could successfully haul back to America’s shores; they played a central role in American’s struggle for independence and later turned their seafaring talents to the slave trade; embodying the conflict between enterprise and morality central to the American psyche.

In Patriot Pirates, Robert H. Patton, grandson of the battlefield genius of World War II, writes that during America’s Revolutionary War, what began in 1775 as a New England fad--converting civilian vessels to fast-sailing warships, and defying the Royal Navy’s overwhelming firepower to snatch its merchant shipping--became a massive seaborne insurgency that ravaged the British economy and helped to win America’s independence. More than two thousand privately owned warships were commissioned by Congress to prey on enemy transports, seize them by force, and sell the cargoes for prize money to be divided among the privateer’s officers, crewmen, and owners.

Patton writes how privateering engaged all levels of Revolutionary life, from the dockyards to the assembly halls; how it gave rise to an often cutthroat network of agents who sold captured goods and sparked wild speculation in purchased shares in privateer ventures, enabling sailors to make more money in a month than they might otherwise earn in a year.

As one naval historian has observed, “The great battles of the American Revolution were fought on land, but independence was won at sea.”

Benjamin Franklin, then serving at his diplomatic post in Paris, secretly encouraged the sale of captured goods in France, a calculated violation of neutrality agreements between France and Britain, in the hopes that the two countries would come to blows and help take the pressure off American fighters.

Patton writes about those whose aggressive speculation in privateering promoted the war effort: Robert Morris--a financier of the Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress who helped to fund George Washington’s army, later tried (and acquitted) for corruption when his deals with foreign merchants and privateers came to light, and emerged from the war as one of America’s wealthiest men . . . William Bingham… John R. Livingston--scion of a well-connected New York family who made no apologies for exploiting the war for profit, calling it “a means of making my fortune.” He worried that peace would break out too soon. (“If it takes place without a proper warning,” said Livingston, “it may ruin us.”) Vast fortunes made through privateering survive to this day, among them those of the Peabodys, Cabots, and Lowell's of Massachusetts, and the Derbys and Browns of Rhode Island.

A revelation of America’s War of Independence, a sweeping tale of maritime rebel-entrepreneurs bent on personal profit as well as national freedom..
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THE PRIVATEER

Lark at first hoped it was a simple nightmare: If she closed her eyes, she would be back in the mahogany bed of her spacious boudoir at Eddington Hall, and all would be well. Her father, the earl of Roxburgh, would not be dead by his own hand, and she would not be in Marshalsea debtor's prison.

Such was not to be. Ere the Marshalsea could do its worst, the earl of Grayshire intervened. Lark shivered, considering the mysterious stone-faced noble. He'd paid her bond while the rest of London turned an eye as blind as the one beneath his eye patch. But while his touch was electric and his gaze piercing, for what purpose had he bought her freedom? A plan including Cornwall, return to the world of the haute ton, and embroilment in a struggle against both England's own Admiralty and the French. But even more perilous, the ex-sea captain might plunder her heart. No, this was not a dream. As Lark would soon learn, her dreams had never ended so well..
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1783: His Majesty's secret agent

Fresh from war in the Americas, young navy veteran Alan Lewrie finds London pure pleasure Then, at Plymouth he boards the trading ship Telesto, to find out why merchantmen are disappearing in the East Indies. Between the pungent shores of Calcutta and teaming Canton, Lewrie--reunited with his scoundrel father--discovers a young French captain, backed by an armada of Mindanaon pirates, on a plundering rampage. While treaties tie the navy's hands, a King's privateer is free to plunge into the fire and blood of a dirty little war on the high South China Sea.

Ladies' man, officer, and rogue, Alan Lewrie is the ultimate man of adventure. In the worthy tradition of Hornblower, Aubrey, and Maturin, his exploits echo with the sounds of crowded ports and the crash of naval warfare.

Praise for the Naval Adventures of Alan Lewrie

"The best naval series since C. S. Forrester . . . Recommended."

--Library Journal

"Plenty of action . . . Fast-paced, graphically descriptive, and well plotted."

--The Virginian-Pilot & The Ledger-Star

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Fast-moving . . . A hugely likable hero, a huge cast of sharply drawn supporting characters: there's nothing missing. Wonderful stuff."

--Kirkus Reviews

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WARMACHINE: Escalation propels players of the WARMACHINE miniatures game into the heart of the expanding conflict in the Iron Kingdoms

An expanion of the armies found in WARMACHINE: Prime, this full-color book features additional background on all factions and mercenaries, nearly fifty new models to bolster your armies, including never-before-seen characters, warjacks, and solos, as well as new models types like unit attachments and artillery.

Also included is an extensive story-based campaign detailing a full year of brutal warfare and a 26 page showcase and modeling guide. Not for the faint of heart, WARMACHINE: Escalation is a pulse-pounding, mind-blowing, metal-grinding incursion into the hazards of warfare in the award-winning world of the Iron Kingdoms..
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Throw yourself into the eye of the Storm!

War rages across the Iron Kingdoms like a tornado hurling the forces of western Immoren into intense conflict. The destiny of humankind lies in the outcome of this clash of unstoppable forces.

WARMACHINE: Apotheosis arms players with the mightiest warcasters and warjacks ever to take the field of war. Discover a bounty of new strategies and tactics to unlock incredible combinations that will make you victorious in your battles for survival, revenge, and domination!

Read the exciting story of how these great armies converge on the Thornwood to clash in the ultimate battle.

Expand your tactical combinations with 8 all new warcasters, 8 returning epic warcasters, and 4 new unstoppable warjacks.

Supercharge your games with new rules for bonded warjacks, experienced warcasters, and new bone-crunching power attacks.

Play out your own battle for the Thornwood with the Theater of War campaign system.

Experience the amazing artwork of the most art-intensive project from Privateer Press to date..
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Bring gritty and dark urban adventuring to your Iron Kingdoms campaign with the premier city source book for all Full-Metal Fantasy role playing.

This guidebook for adventure in the city of Five Fingers provides a tool box of options for any urban campaign, including chase rules (over rooftops too!), how to build your own criminal empire, how to run gang warfare.

Though it is a place of vibrant trade and rampant opportunity, it is also a haven for pirates, thieves, and dark cultists. One day you could be socializing with the political elite, and the next day you could be running for your life from enforcers demanding tribute. Five Fingers is an active port city filled with mystery, intrigue, and danger where an adventurer can make his fortune, build a criminal enterprise, or meet a dubious end.

Within the pages of this 208 page hardback Iron Kingdoms city source book:
Chapters narrated by characters from the city, designed to give players a street-level look at this city. Included is a full color fold-out map of the city , three new prestige classes: the Agent, the Enforcer, and the Malefactor of Thamar, and all manner of shops, mercenary companies, gambling halls, gangs, coves, and cults to discover, as well as nearly 200 NPCs to meet..
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Following the pirate scourge of the early 18th century, many sea captains took to privateering as a means of making money. A form of nationally sponsored piracy, it reached its peak during the American Revolution, when the fledgling American navy had to rely on privateers to disrupt British shipping between England and the rebellious colonies. Following peace in 1815, many former privateers turned to piracy, spawning the last great piratical wave, which would last for a decade. The world of these privateers and latter-day pirates comes vividly to life in this detailed exploration of their ships, crews, ports and battle tactics..
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