Summary

Two centuries ago the waters surrounding La Florida were filled with merchants, mercenaries, bootleggers, slave ships, brigantines, and frigates from England, France, Spain, the young United States ...and PIRATES. The pirates were an early version of today's organized crime---with outstanding leaders, a strict code of honor, democratic laws, and a true form of democratic government. Legend has it that Gasparilla, the king of pirates, reigned in the Florida Keys and along Florida's West Coast from Marco Island to Tampa Bay, hiding his female prisoners on Captiva Island until they could be ransomed. First the Caribbean, then the Keys, and then the barrier islands along the Gulf Coast, the rivers and harbors were a perfect location for international outlaws to establish a base of operations. Before tragedy forced him into piracy, the story goes that Jose Gaspar was a young Spanish naval hero and hero to the people of Spain, Gaspar became embittered by the corruption and brutality of the Spanish Crown. Author James Kaserman develops the life of Jose Gaspar as a well-educated and highly principled seaman who reaches the rank of admiral before his political and personal enemies destroy all that he loves. Taking the name of Gasparilla, his brilliant mind creates a pirate confederacy, a fortress on Gasparilla Island, designs his ships, many of which are built in Mystic Seaport, Conn., he is unbeatable in battle, and establishes one of the largest and most profitable enterprises of all time. In Pirate Genius, the times are rough, the murders are graphic and savage, sex can be raw; revenge is vicious, and treatment of women, gentle or crude. Kaserman introduces us to the wisdom of this pirate king---ideas that may help civilization in the millennium...and he hints where the treasures may have been, and perhaps, still are, hidden. This is a story of power, romance, and tragedy.