jjares reviewed Buried Treasure: A Collection of Strange Mysteries, Golden Legends, and Lucky Finds in the Search for Hidden Wealth on + 3294 more book reviews
Because of the picture on the cover of this book, I thought the story as about pirate treasure burials. That is partly true, but another portion is about famous and infamous mysteries related to hidden treasure.
There are so many tales out there about pirates that it is hard to keep them straight. However, this book seeks to separate the truth from the stories. I found it to be a highly readable style and chock full of info about some of the more infamous pirates. The author makes the point that everyone's view of pirates comes from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," right down to the idea that pirates buried their treasure. The author says that burying treasure rarely happened. Then the author takes us on a jaunty ride to see the truth about Sir Francis Drake, Captain William Kidd, Blackbeard (actually, Edward Teach), Captain William Thompson and the 'Treasure of Lima.'
Then the reader is entertained by other tales of spoils of war. One was a tale of Colonel John Mosby, an infamous Confederate leader and raider, who decided to capture a haughty Union General Stoughton and a treasure trove of some $350,000. The "Knights of the Golden Circle" are discussed. This was a group of Southerners who hid money and other valuables to start a new war (as the Civil War was winding down).
The book outlines some English bounty-finders who hit it rich. But the true value of the finds is related to archaeology. They have found new trade networks, forgotten rulers (pictured on the coins found), and new coin types. The Nazis are known to have hidden treasure and this book highlights how hunters, after the war and more recently, have searched for lost money, art, and goods.
This is one of those quirky titles Charles Rivers sometimes releases. The information is very interesting but the cover is deceptive. This is only partly about pirate treasure.
There are so many tales out there about pirates that it is hard to keep them straight. However, this book seeks to separate the truth from the stories. I found it to be a highly readable style and chock full of info about some of the more infamous pirates. The author makes the point that everyone's view of pirates comes from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," right down to the idea that pirates buried their treasure. The author says that burying treasure rarely happened. Then the author takes us on a jaunty ride to see the truth about Sir Francis Drake, Captain William Kidd, Blackbeard (actually, Edward Teach), Captain William Thompson and the 'Treasure of Lima.'
Then the reader is entertained by other tales of spoils of war. One was a tale of Colonel John Mosby, an infamous Confederate leader and raider, who decided to capture a haughty Union General Stoughton and a treasure trove of some $350,000. The "Knights of the Golden Circle" are discussed. This was a group of Southerners who hid money and other valuables to start a new war (as the Civil War was winding down).
The book outlines some English bounty-finders who hit it rich. But the true value of the finds is related to archaeology. They have found new trade networks, forgotten rulers (pictured on the coins found), and new coin types. The Nazis are known to have hidden treasure and this book highlights how hunters, after the war and more recently, have searched for lost money, art, and goods.
This is one of those quirky titles Charles Rivers sometimes releases. The information is very interesting but the cover is deceptive. This is only partly about pirate treasure.
