#i'm half convinced rackham wrote Treasure Neverland

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The above link is fantastic. @noknowshame​ is amazing for compiling and sharing. It’s really the perfect write up and you should all read it. 

If you read all the above, all the wiki links, and the Republic of Pirates and want more, here’s my list of resources I use for both 18th C. naval and pirate history:

r/askhistorian’s FAQ on pirates and their Pirate Recommended Reading List If you’re unfamiliar, r/askhistorians is one of the best moderated subs on reddit and requires all answers to have primary and secondary academic sources. The questions above include “What was an average day for a pirate like?” and “How did pirates get their ships?”. Amazing resource.  (There is also a two part podcast interview on the Golden Age of Piracy from the askhistorians podcast with two academic historians that have devoted their lives to studying pirates.)

Outside of strict pirate histories, there are some other great sources that tie into Black Sails: Treasure Neverland: Real and Imaginary Pirates - A Jack Rackham special. How pirates became a cultural force and mainstay of storytelling. Well written and covers A General History of Pyrates through PoTC with everything in-between including a whole chapter on Treasure Island. The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates  - A history of early modern econ as explained by pirates and piracy. A really fun read and a surprisingly good introduction to modern economic theory and sociology.  The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy - The show ostensibly takes place just before this era, but it’s probably the best overview of how the British navy in the 18th C. actually functioned.

Gay History & Literature: Essays by Rictor Norton - A very well researched, old school website with loads of primary source information about gay men in 18th c. England. Norton is one of the foremost historians of queer history and the website is a goldmine. Thomas Hamilton would approve.

Three Decks - A fully searchable database for the Age of Sail. Comprehensive to the point of hilarity with 27,109 ships, 44,007 seamen, 1,059 actions/battles to search or browse.

18th Century Notebook - One of the best guides to what actual people were wearing in the 18th C, with loads of links to artworks and extant garments. Organized by men, women, and children and garment type (shoes, buckles, short gowns, shirts etc). Includes links to sewing guides if you want to make your own kits.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (PDF) - Published in 1719, it’s one of the first English language novels and kickstarted interest in seafaring adventures. Still extremely readable and a great intro to early 18th C primary source writing. Gives a good sense of how people spoke/what their internal monolog sounded like at the time. A primary influence for Stevenson’s Treasure Island. (cw: period typical racism/slavery)

Aubrey–Maturin Series by Patrick O’Brian or the film Master & Commander - They are set around 1800 but the dialogue and detail is about as accurate as you can get in historic fiction, great if you want to live and breathe naval terminology. Steinberg cites the film as his inspiration for Black Sails and he borrowed quite a few scenes and dynamics whole cloth.

I hope this helps and isn’t too obnoxiously long or pedantic. I have no chill when it comes to my interests and I’ve spent the last 4 years or so immersed in 18th C history and it’s fun to see it come back into the fore.

hi! as a black sails veteran you probably have some posts / link compilations on the general history of the golden age of piracy? ofmd is great bc it just gives us permission to Not Care about historical accuracy, but as a nerd i think i'd appreciate some reading material for inspiration

This is a tad embarrassing, but I actually don't! I don't know hardly anything about historical piracy besides what I've gleaned from various educational posts that have crossed my dash now and again and I don't personally have a compilation of those handy.

I'm sure someone who follows me does tho so @ people with an interest in the Golden Age of Piracy, can anybody help? @noknowshame @'ing you in particular because I know you just did that really cool model UN thing but with historical pirates and so might have some good resources handy!