The first book to tell the tale of the War of 1812 from the privateers’ perspective.

Winner of the John Lyman Book Award of the North American Society for Oceanic History

During the War of 1812, most clashes on the high seas involved privately owned merchant ships, not official naval vessels. Licensed by their home governments and considered key weapons of maritime warfare, these ships were authorized to attack and seize enemy traders. Once the prizes were legally condemned by a prize court, the privateers could sell off ships and cargo and pocket the proceeds. Because only a handful of ship-to-ship engagements occurred between the Royal Navy and the United States Navy, it was really the privateers who fought—and won—the war at sea.

In Privateering, Faye M. Kert introduces readers to U.S. and Atlantic Canadian privateers who sailed those skirmishing ships, describing both the rare captains who made money and the more common ones who lost it. Some privateers survived numerous engagements and returned to their pre-war lives; others perished under violent circumstances. Kert demonstrates how the romantic image of pirates and privateers came to obscure the dangerous and bloody reality of private armed warfare.

Building on two decades of research, Privateering places the story of private armed warfare within the overall context of the War of 1812. Kert highlights the economic, strategic, social, and political impact of privateering on both sides and explains why its toll on normal shipping helped convince the British that the war had grown too costly. Fascinating, unfamiliar, and full of surprises, this book will appeal to historians and general readers alike.

Faye M. Kert is an independent historian who earned her PhD from the University of Leiden. She is the author of Trimming Yankee Sails: Pirates and Privateers of New Brunswick and Prize and Prejudice: Privateering and Naval Prize in Atlantic Canada in the War of 1812.

Faye M. Kert's profile page

• Winner, John Lyman Book Award

"Kert’s work has opened an invaluable window into the lives of the entrepreneurial warriors who played a critical, yet poorly understood, role during the War of 1812. Solidifying the importance of her work, Kert added a valuable essay on the archival and secondary sources of privateering during the War of 1812 and has published her database of ships and individuals involved in privateering on the website of her publisher, allowing future scholars to build upon her scholarship."

"Kert noted that there have been more than 400 books published on the maritime War of 1812. Do we need yet another?... The answer is yes. Kert's work, Privateering: Patriots and Profits in the War of 1912, capably fills the gap and adds a valuable chapter to the literature of the war."

"Kert has accomplished a great deal in a short space. Her notes, tables, and charts are jewels in themselves...[her] book points the way forward, providing a wealth of information that will guide future scholars navigating privateer waters."

"...a fine study..."

"A prodigious body of empirical research is distilled into a concise and pointed account that will appeal to scholars, military professionals, and educated laymen alike."