Robert's Reviews > Born to Be Hanged: The Epic Story of the Gentlemen Pirates Who Raided the South Seas, Rescued a Princess, and Stole a Fortune

An entertaining narrative account of the misadventures of some (mostly) English buccaneers audaciously attacking the "Spanish Main" from Panama and thence over land and sea (via a series of captured vessels) to what is today Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. My main takeaway is that, when one sets the romanticism surrounding 17th century piracy in the Caribbean aside, these men were noteworthy principally for violence, ruthlessness and opportunism and, though the Spanish authorities they so vexed were hardly "good guys" either, one can't help but feel pity for the civilians and natives caught up in their raids and intrigues.


It appears avoiding acute scurvy during long sea voyages was something these men couldn't do.