Why this book: I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Divers, so was intrigued to see what Kurson’s next book was about. After reading the summary, I had to go for it.

Summary in 3 Sentences: John Chatterson (one of the heroes from Shadow Divers,) and his friend Johnny Matteras had been trying to find a sunken Spanish treasure galleon when they chose to drop that project in favor of the chance to find a sunken pirate ship that had eluded searchers for centuries.  The main reward was to solve a problem no one else had been able to solve, and to find only the second sunken pirate ship in history. Describing their extensive research we learn about the two divers themselves and what drove them, about the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean trade in the 17th, why it ended, and the unique form of problem solving that led to their eventual success. 

My Impressions: Fascinating book, fun to read,  and like Shadow Divers, well written to not only pull us into the story, but also to  educate us about so much of the context.  In addition to the main detective story of finding the ship, this book also reinforces some of the same lessons that came out of Shadow Divers – to distrust “conventional wisdom” on the solution to a problem and do more research, and how extensive research and more focus helped these guys explore options no one else had considered, and which ended up finding the right answer. Chatterdon would have echoed Steve Jobs:  “Think different.”  

We get to know the characters and backgrounds of the two main protagonists, Chatterton and Matteras, whose histories and characters are very different than most of those who would read this book.  We learn how they built their team and how that team almost fell apart under the frustration of weeks of unrewarding work, flaring tempers, and how the team was able to stick together. We also learn a bit about life on the Dominican Republic – the discomforts and challenges of living in a tropical paradise in the developing world, how these guys managed the challenges of their their own frustrations, the frustrations of their team, and the impact their obsession had to their marriages.

Most interestingly to me were the insights into the world of 17th century trade and piracy, how Port Royal became principle hang out of English pirates in the Caribbean, tolerated or even endorsed by the English government to raid on Spanish galleons bringing booty from South and Central America to Spain.  Until England signed a trade agreement with Spain, at which point the English sought to control and stop piracy.   

We also learn about who these pirates were, the unique brand of terror they used to intimidate their targets, the uniquely egalitarian culture on pirate ships. We learn about how battles were fought between ships in that era, how and why many or most commercial ships chose to surrender rather than fight, how men were injured in these battles, and died.   In particular we learn about a little known, but by all accounts, unique pirate Joseph Bannister, whose ship The Golden Fleece was the target of Chatterton’s and Matteras’s  search. And we learn how their patient and extensive research helped them put the pieces together of the scenario and battle that led to the sinking of the Golden Fleece.  And how their research and efforts to understand these details finally led them to their goal. 

This is a great and fun non-fiction book that was also a captivating detective story, of finding and putting together little clues they found in archives in Spain and the UK, deciding which clues to disregard, in their efforts to solve the problem – where is the Golden Fleece resting?   It took me back to the 17th century, but also to present day Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic – so different from the world most of us know in the UK.  

For those who prefer non-fiction that reads like a who-dunnit novel, this is a great one.