The Brethren Prince: Piracy, Revenge, and the Culture Clash of the Old Caribbean

As a child, James Ketcham is snatched from the streets of England and sold abroad as an indentured servant to the unforgiving world of the 17th Century Caribbean. But when his passage is interrupted by a terrible battle at sea, he is washed ashore and taken in by an international band of the underclass: English, French, Hollanders, Native Americans, and runaway black slaves.

However, as he builds a life with these castaways of humanity, the Empire of Holy Spain launches a campaign to purge all “heretics” from its imperial lands: a campaign that will take from James all that he loves. He abandons his humble ambitions, taking up sword and sail to avenge the atrocities committed by the Spanish crown and inquisition, unaware that he would one day become the most feared pirate on the Spanish Main, a hero to his countrymen, and the Brethren Prince.

The Brethren Prince is the real story of buccaneers in the New World. It is a thoroughly researched, historically accurate portrayal of life in the mid-17th Century Caribbean, nested in authentic historical events of the time. It captures the cruelty, nationalistic fervor, and religious virulence of the Imperial powers of the day, but also the pirates who preyed on them.