Download or read book Piracy and the English Government 1616–1642 written by David D. Hebb and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Piracy and the English Government, 1616-1642, explodes the myth that England was ’a nation of pirates’, arguing that the English people were far more often victims of piracy. The costs to the economy and society resulting from piracy, which are critically examined here for the first time, reveal that not only were hundreds of English ships lost to pirates in the period, but an astonishing number of men, women and children (approximately 8,000) were carried away to Barbary by pirates and sold into slavery. The response of the government to these losses, which posed significant political problems for the early Stuart government, are explored and related to broader political concerns and influences.