Des Ekin’s The Stolen Village is a good popular history based upon archival material and thoughtful analysis.
Ekin’s writing style is readable and straightforward—he’s a trained journalist.
Arguably, in the genre of corsair pirates of North Africa, this book is one of the better studies on the market.
I did enjoy reading it.
I felt that Ekin is trying to make an honest and fair attempt to understand why the raid took place and who was behind it. And more importantly, how it impacted on the lives of the innocent English captives.
Ekin’s work is balanced and extensive – the story moves from southern Ireland to Morocco and Algiers, and Holland to Istanbul –, and his arguments are reasonable and considered (including the conspiracy theory view noted in the final chapter).
The author covers the motivations of the (ethnically diverse) pirates, renegade seamen, the Irish Catholic elites, the Protestant settlers in Baltimore, Ireland, the English elites, and the slave dynamics of the 17th century.
He emphasises the multicultural and multilingual nature of Algiers and seeks to capture the spirit and politics of Muslim society in North Africa (and to a lesser extent in the Ottoman metropolis of Istanbul).
His conclusions are established upon plausible arguments and he highlights the complexity of the ‘stolen village’ story.
His research is more than adequate for the task at hand. We can only feel empathy for the English settlers torn way from their homes and families.
The main characters from all sides are discussed and their personal and political histories considered. Irish and English national and local histories of the period are reviewed too. There are some very engaging accounts of individuals in this book; the author displays an ability to recreate events and to provide a human element to the narrative. The explanations of the pirate legacy in North America, and particularly New York, are fascinating to read.
I have some critical points to note concerning Ekin’s work.
While he makes a good attempt at linking the events of June 1631 CE with contemporary politics and criminal actions, I am not totally convinced that some of the language used was suitable, its rather speculative and emotive, and might be deployed in the wrong context; furthermore, the author fails to define his terminology. This leaves the book, in places, open to an ambiguous interpretation. For instance: “Islamist jihad” (p. 9); “endless jihad” (p. 10); “Islamist empire” (p. 10); “invasion” (p. 10); “ethnic cleansing” (p.10); “Islamist invasion” (p. 118).
Also, some of the language used is arguably orientalist: “curved slippers”; “the plumes” (p. 19); “crescent moon” (p. 23).
Nonetheless, I repeat myself here, I did enjoy reading this book; Ekin explores ideas and concepts freely and does not stifle debate. ( )

I would love to think this book may have been worth a thumb through, but it is completely obscured by the tabloid style of the Sunday World qualified author. Some interesting information, some very good research, a whole lashing of speculative accounts of piracy used misleadingly and in the end a very poor book. The writing and descriptions are sensationalised and woeful. Shame. ( )

Though the subject of considerable attention at the time, the raid on the Irish coastal village of Baltimore on June 20, 1631 is an event that has been long overlooked by most histories of the era. Yet as Des Ekin demonstrates in this absorbing book, it is an event that offers an interesting window into life in the early 17th century. While such raids were uncommon they were not unheard of, as Barbary pirates started ranging out into the Atlantic and raiding settlements along the coast. It was one of these raids which fell upon Baltimore, sacking the village and capturing over a hundred men, women, and children. These captives were then taken to Algiers and sold into slavery, a fate from which few of them would ever escape.

Ekin’s book is an entertaining account of this traditionally obscure event. A journalist and author of two novels, Ekin conducted considerable research to underneath the lives and experiences of the Baltimore captives. Where the directly relevant sources ended Ekin turned to the accounts of others who dealt with the Barbary pirates or underwent similar experiences in an effort to understand better what life was like for the villagers of Baltimore. Though this occasionally comes across as padding, it results in a more generally informative portrait of the early 17th century, the economics of slavery, and life during those times.

Yet these strengths are offset by several problems. While his research into the village of Baltimore, the captives, and their lives is thorough, his coverage of the broader context is weaker, with descriptions of such groups as the Janissaries often dependent on a couple of sources, often dated and bearing errors as a consequence. Moreover, while Eakin claims in his preface that he has made nothing up, the text is peppered with assumptions and suppositions that strain such an assertion. Stitching all of this together is an overwrought prose style that gets in the way of a naturally exciting tale. These flaws detract from what is otherwise an interesting account of the sack of Baltimore and the fate of its survivors. ( )

An interesting account, opening in 1631 with Barbary pirates (led by one Morat Rais - a Dutchborn sailor who had 'turned Turk') descending on the small fishing village in County Cork and carrying off almost all the villagers to the slave markets of Algiers.
This was an era of piracy, and the author goes on to look at the numerous Europeans taken as slaves, including Icelanders and the author Cervantes. He considers the various fates that might await them: galley slaves, concubines...or the chance of 'making it' in businesss, marrying well... The adventures of the few who escaped; the punishments inflicted... Lacking much detail on the humble folk of this particular raid, a lot of extra information is brought in.
But what could have been the motivation for the raid? Ekin goes on to examine the political situation in Baltimore, a stronghold of the impoverished (but violent) Catholic O'Driscolls, now fallen into the hands of wealthy, totally corrupt Walter Coppinger....who found himself with some unwanted tenants, namely a settlement of English Protestants who had leased the land and weren't going to leave.
English v Irish; Catholic v Protestant; unscrupulous lords... and certainly a deal seems to have been done, since the raid took place on the very day that the Protestants' original twenty-one year lease expired.
Learned a lot! ( )

Many people these days have the idea that pirates are rakish, fun-loving scamps, thanks to the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and similar Hollywood fare. Nothing could be farther from the truth, a fact that is brilliantly revealed in Des Ekin's masterful work "The Stolen Village." Focusing on the sack of Baltimore, Ireland in the 17th-century, the author takes readers on a harrowing journey into the world and minds of pirates who stop at nothing to get what they want. A thorough book, but still a page-turner, readers will walk in the footsteps of Irish captives who were abducted to north Africa and found themselves subjected to a life of slavery. A fascinating read, and one which also includes some sleuthing and mystery-solving. If you love high adventure (yes, even swash-buckling!), and would like to take a look into a world that is often misunderstood and glossed over, then give this historical account a try. ( )