7 h 39 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 39 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How do a few daring sailors build sea powers that Europe can neither crush nor ignore?
In The Story of the Barbary Corsairs, Stanley Lane-Poole follows the North African pirates who raid ships and coastal towns across the Mediterranean and beyond. Aruj and Khair ed-Din, the Barbarossa brothers, stand at the beginning. Around them, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli grow into powers sustained by plunder, ransom and the sale of captives.
Suleiman the Magnificent gives Khair ed-Din command of his fleet, while Dragut emerges as a master of galley warfare. Sultans, emperors and admirals struggle for control of the sea. Beneath the battles lie trade, religion, money and fear. The captives at the oars reveal the human cost, while J. D. Jerrold Kelley explores the American naval wars against the corsairs.
What you’ll discover
- The brothers called Barbarossa Follow Aruj and Khair ed-Din as they build power through daring and conflict.
- A sea worth fighting for Trace the struggle for Mediterranean control through rival fleets, coastal raids and Ottoman backing.
- Lives behind the battles Look beyond the admirals to captives whose lives depend on ransom or forced labour.
- The business of raiding Explore how plunder, tribute and trade shape the choices of corsairs and their opponents.
- From galleys to sailing ships Watch changing ships carry the corsairs beyond the Mediterranean and far into the Atlantic.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love sea battles, sieges and daring captains, and anyone curious about how pirates, empires and trade shaped the Mediterranean.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Exiled Moors turn to sea raiding for revenge
- The Barbary coast was made for pirates
- Urūj Barbarossa seizes Algiers and dies fighting
- Kheyr-ed-din ties Algiers to the Ottoman Empire
- Barbarossa rebuilds the Turkish navy and wins Prevesa
- Charles V's great fleet is wrecked at Algiers
- Dragut outwits Doria and the Knights hold Malta
- Lepanto shatters Turkish prestige and corsairs turn petty
- Galleys, slaves and ransom ruled corsair life
- Europe paid tribute until America, Britain and France acted
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Les corsaires barbaresques
by Stanley Lane-Poole ; J. D. Jerrold Kelley · 1890
A one-armed pirate with a red beard seizes Algiers and starts three centuries of terror at sea.
Challenging2–5 hours to readfrançais
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In short
What happens when a band of exiles, a red-bearded sailor and his brother take a city and hold the Mediterranean to ransom for three centuries? That is the question behind The Story of the Barbary Corsairs, by the English historian Stanley Lane-Poole, with chapters added by J. D. Jerrold Kelley.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Exiled Moors turn to sea raiding for revenge
When Granada fell, thousands of Moors left Spain after seven hundred years and crossed to Africa. They settled in Oran, Shershel and above all Algiers. Like many exiles, they carried the war to the people who had driven them out.
Their weapon was the small brigantine, with ten oars on each side and one big sail. Every rower was also a fighter. Crews hid in creeks and waited for a Spanish galleon, then the oars went out and the ship came alongside. They also crept inland to raid Andalusian villages they knew well.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1890
- Language
- français
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Lane-Poole, Stanley, and J. D. Jerrold Kelley. The Story of the Barbary Corsairs. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-barbary-corsairs.
Lane-Poole, S., & Kelley, J. D. J. (2026). The story of the Barbary corsairs. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-barbary-corsairs (Original work published 1890)
Lane-Poole, Stanley, and J. D. Jerrold Kelley. The Story of the Barbary Corsairs. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-barbary-corsairs.
@book{lanepoole2026story,
author = {Lane-Poole, Stanley and Kelley, J. D. Jerrold},
title = {The Story of the Barbary Corsairs},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-story-of-the-barbary-corsairs},
note = {First published 1890}
}
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What is The Story of the Barbary Corsairs about?
It tells how pirates from Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli ruled the Mediterranean for three centuries. It covers Barbarossa, Dragut, the sieges of Malta and Algiers, the battle of Lepanto, slave markets, tribute and the final French conquest.
Who was Barbarossa?
Barbarossa means Red Beard. The name belongs to two brothers from Lesbos, Urūj and Kheyr-ed-din. Urūj seized Algiers, and Kheyr-ed-din tied it to the Ottoman Empire and later became the Sultan's admiral.
Why were they called Barbary corsairs?
Barbary was the old name for the North African coast of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. Corsairs were sea raiders working from those ports, first Moorish exiles from Spain, then Turks and renegades from many Christian lands.
The author
Stanley Lane-Poole
1854–1931 · British orientalist and archaeologist
Stanley Lane-Poole was a British historian, orientalist and archaeologist. He was born in London in 1854 and died in 1931. He worked at the British Museum in London and taught Arabic at Trinity College Dublin. His books included The Story of the Barbary Corsairs, published in 1890.
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