The Pirates Laffite

The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf

By: William C. Davis

Narrated by: Paul Woodson

An "engrossing and exciting" account of legendary New Orleans privateers Pierre and Jean Laffite and their adventures along the Gulf Coast (Booklist, starred review).

At large during the most colorful period in New Orleans' history, from just after the Louisiana Purchase through the War of 1812, privateers Jean and Pierre Laffite made life hell for Spanish merchants on the Gulf. Pirates to the US Navy officers who chased them, heroes to the private citizens who shopped for contraband at their well-publicized auctions, the brothers became important members of a filibustering syndicate that included lawyers, bankers, merchants, and corrupt US officials. But this allegiance didn't stop the Laffites from becoming paid Spanish spies, disappearing into the fog of history after selling out their own associates. William C. Davis uncovers the truth about two men who made their names synonymous with piracy and intrigue on the Gulf.

©2005 William C. Davis (P)2022 Tantor

Incredibly Detailed

Loved this detailed tale of piracy and the southern frontier. The book kept me rvited with it's good research and ecellent reading.

Extraordinary amount of research, sourcing of notes

A very specific subject. If you are not interested deeply in the lives of the Laffitte brothers, New Orleans between 1790-1820 or the business of pirates, corsairs and privateers, you should skip this book. For example, as an American history buff, I was hoping to learn more about the Laffittes’ role in the Battle of New Orleans. While I learned that they probably didn’t have much of an effect, contrary to accepted lore, this was handled in one of the shortest chapters in the book. The rest of the book is numbing in detail. I caught myself asking “why am I reading this book????” If it were not for the amount of impressive research the author clearly did, I would have given this book two stars instead of three.

The reader is good, not great.

Great history of Pirates

Great hearing about the Pirates and slave traders that frequented the Mississippi River up and down from NOLA to Galveston Island. One problem was the pronunciation of many names of streets in NOLA. But, many of those streets are named after slave trading Pirates.