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The Invisible Hook
- The Hidden Economics of Pirates
- Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
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Publisher's summary
Why did pirates fly flags of Skull & Bones? Why did they create a "pirate code"? Were pirates really ferocious madmen? And what made them so successful? The Invisible Hook uses economics to examine these and other infamous aspects of piracy. Leeson argues that the pirate customs we know and love resulted from pirates responding rationally to prevailing economic conditions in the pursuit of profits.
The Invisible Hook looks at legendary pirate captains like Blackbeard, Black Bart Roberts, and Calico Jack Rackam, and shows how pirates' search for plunder led them to pioneer remarkable and forward-thinking practices. Pirates understood the advantages of constitutional democracy - a model they adopted more than 50 years before the United States did so. Pirates also initiated an early system of workers' compensation, regulated drinking and smoking, and in some cases practiced racial tolerance and equality. Leeson contends that pirates exemplified the virtues of vice - their self-seeking interests generated socially desirable effects and their greedy criminality secured social order. Pirates proved that anarchy could be organized.
Revealing the democratic and economic forces propelling history's most colorful criminals, The Invisible Hook establishes pirates' trailblazing relevance to the contemporary world.
Critic reviews
"A brisk, clever new book." (The New Yorker)
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Story
In Inhuman Bondage, David Brion Davis sums up a lifetime of insight. He looks at slavery in the American South; the rise of the Cotton Kingdom; the daily life of slaves; the destructive internal long-distance slave trade; the sexual exploitation of slaves; the emergence of an African-American culture; and much more. A definitive history by a writer deeply immersed in the subject, Inhuman Bondage links together the profits of slavery, the pain of the enslaved, and the legacy of racism.
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Very Useful Contribution
- By Biggar Thomas on 06-14-08
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The Slave Ship
- A Human History
- By: Marcus Rediker
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of Africa across the Atlantic to the New World. Much is known of the slave trade and the American plantation complex, but little of the ships that made it all possible. In The Slave Ship, award-winning historian Marcus Rediker draws on 30 years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks.
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So much misery
- By Michael on 11-07-07
By: Marcus Rediker
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New England Bound
- Slavery and Colonization in Early America
- By: Wendy Warren
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In a work that fundamentally recasts the history of colonial America, Wendy Warren shows how the institution of slavery was inexorably linked with the first century of English colonization of New England. While most histories of slavery in early America confine themselves to the Southern colonies and the Caribbean, New England Bound forcefully widens the historical aperture to include the entirety of English North America.
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Don't waste your time or money
- By Dis Carded on 09-03-17
By: Wendy Warren
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The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of the System that Brought Slaves to the New World
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: David Otey
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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"The deck, that is the floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence of the flux, that it resembled a slaughter-house. It is not in the power of the human imagination to picture a situation more dreadful or disgusting. Numbers of the slaves having fainted, they were carried upon deck where several of them died and the rest with great difficulty were restored. It had nearly proved fatal to me also." - Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, an 18th century British surgeon
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inaccuracies and untruths
- By Miracles on 02-23-24
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Empire
- How Britain Made the Modern World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red, and Britannia ruled not just the waves but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries.
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Such a great listen - What a History Lesson
- By Dorothy on 11-04-17
By: Niall Ferguson
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Empire
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
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Not Balanced till Conclusion
- By Hectoris on 08-13-20
By: Niall Ferguson
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Inglorious Empire
- What the British Did to India
- By: Shashi Tharoor
- Narrated by: Shashi Tharoor
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 18th century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannons, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalized racism, and caused millions to die from starvation. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial "gift" was designed in Britain's interests alone.
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An entertaining and provocative history
- By James Moseley on 01-07-20
By: Shashi Tharoor
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Imperial Twilight
- The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age
- By: Stephen R. Platt
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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As one of the most potent turning points in the country's modern history, the Opium War has since come to stand for everything that today's China seeks to put behind it. In this dramatic, epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by Western traders and missionaries to "open" China even as China's imperial rulers were struggling to manage their country's decline and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China's advantage.
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Balanced readable narrative about the Opium Wars
- By Carl A. Gallozzi on 09-05-18
By: Stephen R. Platt
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The Victory of Reason
- How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success
- By: Rodney Stark
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark advances a revolutionary, controversial, and long overdue idea: that Christianity and its related institutions are, in fact, directly responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium. In Stark's view, what has propelled the West is not the tension between secular and non-secular society, nor the pitting of science and the humanities against religious belief. Christian theology, Stark asserts, is the very font of reason.
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Absolutely incredible history book!
- By Daniel on 01-02-20
By: Rodney Stark
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Why?
- Explaining the Holocaust
- By: Peter Hayes
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Despite the outpouring of books, movies, museums, memorials, and courses devoted to the Holocaust, a coherent explanation of why such ghastly carnage erupted from the heart of civilized Europe in the 20th century still seems elusive even 70 years later. Numerous theories have sprouted in an attempt to console ourselves and to point the blame in emotionally satisfying directions - yet none of them are fully convincing.
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Outstanding book! A must read
- By Pierre on 11-13-21
By: Peter Hayes
What listeners say about The Invisible Hook
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- lary martinez
- 07-01-20
eye opening
I've been reading tons of books on economics lately and this one piqued my interest in both history and content. I'd highly recommend to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of black markets, pirates, and risk versus reward.
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- Dara
- 09-21-12
A great read for people who love pirate history.
The book sucked drew me in with it's premise (whacky economics and pirates) and delivered. The narrator speaks with a clear, calm voice explaining the economic rational behind violent (and in the chapter on torture the first hand accounts Leeson cites are graphically violent) sea banditry in the 18th century Carribean.
Leeson has obviously done his research; taking 17th century primary sources such as government documents and first hand accounts of piracy an applying modern economic theory to explain it.
The only drawback I can forsee with this book is that a reader who doesn't have any prior knowledge of the carribean pirates may need to pick up an Eyewitness series or other book on piracy to understand a bit more of the context.
If you like pirates, history, economics, or theories on why people commit violent crimes this book is a must listen.
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3 people found this helpful
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- KMF
- 02-10-17
Unique Sales Force Leadership Training
If you manage a sales team (especially a commission-based one where you don't control their compensation), you must listen to this book. Enlightening and entertaining.
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- Pirra
- 06-27-15
Set sail for economics
A swashbuckling exploration of the economics of pirates. A great listen for people interested in economics, the golden age of pirates, or both.
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- Jenn E. Castle
- 03-29-21
Excellent Read!
This book was not only educational, but insightful and a lot of fun to listen to as well! Pirates have a whole new dimension for me now. I found the in-depth description of the profit driven social organization truly fascinating.
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- BJ C
- 08-15-16
Could have been summed up in a much shorter book.
This book was very interesting and has several great stories of real pirate happenings. It also shines a very different light on pirates and pirating, and what may have actually gone on on the high seas. My complaint is that the author spends a good deal of time repeating himself, whether to ensure his point is understood, or simply to fill more pages is unknown. The later chapters seem to just regurgitate information from earlier chapters, much the way I am doing in this review. Still, I can't help but recommend this book because I found it to be informative, entertaining, and well narrated.
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- Thomas P. Jenney
- 11-17-19
Fun way to learn basic econ
This book is a fun way to learn some basic economic principles, and uses those principles to help readers/listeners understand why pirates acted the way they did, and why they organized their floating societies the way they did.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 04-21-23
Etertaining and great as an audiobook
Fun to listen to as a audiobook. I would recommend anyone who likes pirates and want some interesting facts :-)
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- Lucinda
- 12-18-20
Tedious and repetitive
An interesting subject, and some good points made, but the author can’t seem to explain anything without immediately explaining it again, and then explaining it a third time for good measure. It feels like padding and gets old very fast.
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- Eric
- 07-27-18
an interesting treatise on the pirate economy
a friend of mine gave me this book because he knows I have an interest in Pirates. he also knows that I am I a libertarian and I'm not a big fan of how are current economy and governments are managed. this book was an interesting treatise on what motivated Pirates to operate Within the economy they created. I'm not entirely sure that everything the author posited is correct but it is an interesting analysis the how's and why's of what Pirates were doing in the 18th century
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