Just finished "Pirates of Barbary" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/022...6YW3HWK55XCGG2
My quick review on Goodreads: This book is NOT a systematic history of the Barbary pirates. The chronology is sometimes confusing and there is little attempt to present facts and figures systematically, nor is there much in the way of social or economic analysis.But its a very readable collection of highlights and anecdotes. The focus is on Britain, so don't expect much about the French, Italian or Spanish sides of this saga (all of whom had more experience with Barbary pirates than Britain did, but then, this is a British book). The Arab/Turk side is presented with a lot of sympathy and one hears more about their side of the story than usual. I also had no idea that so many "renegade" Christians played such a large role in this business. There is a mild postcolonial tinge at times, but by recent standards the book is not too overloaded with political correctness.
After a rollicking read, the author decides to wrap it up with a strange sentence about colonialism finally solving the problem. I say "strange", because just a few pages earlier he has explained how the US and the now VERY powerful Western fleets finally ended the long saga of Barbary piracy around 1816 or so and the last persons to be hanged for piracy in Britain were in 1830 (and they were NOT Barbary pirates), and colonial invasions did not even start until 1830 (when the first French invasion had nothing to do with piracy). That reference to colonialism seemed a bit out of place.

Overall, great fun to read. Lots of very interesting anecdotal history. A bit thin on analysis