Reddit mentions of Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign

i just finished reading about the highly successful Privateer, Admiral / Captain Morgan, what a GREAT read

Books on Pirates:

The Invisible Hook.

Villains of All Nations

The Buccaneers of America

Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates

The Sea Rovers Practice

The Buccaneers Realm

Empire of Blue Water

There are lots of great books about Port Royal in its heyday. The first ones I'd recommend are The Sack of Panama by Peter Earle and Empire of Blue Water by Stephen Talty which both give really solid broad introductions to the politics and environment of the Caribbean and Port Royal's relationship with buccaneers during its heyday in the 1660s until 1671 when England started to crack down on them.

If you want more specialized reading exclusively on Port Royal then I'd recommend Pirate Port: The story of the sunken city of Port Royal by Robert F. Marx for some light reading, and if you want a really excessively meticulous study of everything you ever wanted to know about Port Royal from written records and archaeological findings with lots of maps and reconstructions included then read Port Royal Jamaica by Michael Pawson and David Buisseret.

Lastly, a great primary source on Port Royal in its heyday is the contemporary book The Buccaneers of America which was published by Alexandre Exquemelin in 1678. Exquemelin himself was an actual former French/Dutch buccaneer and the book contains many of his first-person recollections, such as this describing the activities of buccaneers in Port Royal in the 1660s which has clearly influenced some modern pirate tropes:

> Captain Rock sailed for Jamaica with his prize, and lorded it there with his mates until all was gone. For that is the way with these buccaneers -- whenever they have got hold of something, they don't keep it for long. They are busy dicing, whoring and drinking so long as they have anything to spend. Some of them will get through a good two or three thousand pieces of eight in a day -- and next day not have a shirt to their back. I have seen a man in Jamaica give 500 pieces of eight to a whore, just to see her naked. Yes, and many other impieties.

> My own master used to buy a butt of wine and set in the middle of the street with the barrel-head knocked in, and stand barring the way. Every passer-by had to drink with him, or he'd have shot them dead with a gun he kept handy. Once he bought a cask of butter and threw the stuff at everyone who came by, bedaubing their clothes or their head, wherever he best could reach.

> The buccaneers are generous to their comrades: if a man has nothing, the others will come to his help. The tavern-keepers let them have a good deal of credit, but in Jamaica one ought not to put much trust in these people, for often they will sell you for debt, a thing I have seen happen many a time. Even the man I have just been speaking about, the one who gave the whore so much money to see her naked, and at that time had a good 3,000 pieces of eight -- three months later he was sold for his debts, by a man in whose house he had spent most of his money.

Empire of Blue Water seems to fit your request. It is largely based on historical accounts of Henry Morgan and attempts to be historically accurate. At the same time written in an engaging way by someone who is primarily a writer. Not being a historian I found it very interesting.

If you read slightly further back into this subreddit's history there are actual real historians who post here. They made a list of historically good books someone interested in the history of piracy could read. If you search on Amazon at other books the authors listed there have written you will most likely find many more interesting books on the subject. I am planning to get this book on pirate hunting next, written by one of the listed authors.

Here's a really nice accessible book on him if you're interested

Empire of Blue Water - covers the main characters (e.g. Morgan), and gives a history of piracy in the caribbean around the 17th Century. Some incredible tales of hardship, perseverance and success. https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Blue-Water-Americas-Catastrophe/dp/0307236617

[Empire of Blue Water] (https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Blue-Water-Americas-Catastrophe/dp/0307236617) by Stephan Talty. It focuses primarily on the real Captain Henry Morgan, the privateer, turned pirate, turned pirate hunter, but uses his life story as a jumping off point to go into the history of piracy in the early Americas. Fascinating stuff.

Not sure if its the time period you are looking for but Empire of the Blue Water goes into some depth on pirate/privateer wealth. Port Royal was one of the richest cities in the West Indies before being completely destroyed in an Earthquake. Modern Kingston was a small village on the mainland across the bay from Port Royal at the time.

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Blue-Water-Americas-Catastrophe/dp/0307236617

Empire of Blue Water is a great telling of his life story. We probably know more about him than any other pirate, him being a government official for so long. Not many pirates, especially from the Golden Age of Piracy, have much in the way official records to back up their legends.

I'm a big nerd when it comes to pirates, in case that wasn't clear.