Benerson Little
Benerson Little is an American author, primarily of non-fiction, focusing on naval history, in particular, piracy and privateering in the 17th to early 18th centuries, including the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean. Little has also established himself as an expert, more broadly, on these and other various types of "sea rovers" over history, including through to the present, and has authored several books related to these subjects. He has also applied his expertise to a variety of artistic and commercial productions, including for the Black Sails television series, and for the modern board game Blood & Plunder, serving as a historical consultant for both.
Early life and education
Benerson "Ben" Kile Little was born on July 30, 1959, in Naval Hospital Key West in that Florida city, to Alabamians Margaret Little and Benerson Vernon Little, his father being "a Navy man."Little grew up "variously on all three US coasts," and studied and graduated from Tulane University.
Career
Early career
Little joined the U.S. Navy, serving eight years as an officer, 1981–1989, including the six years beginning 1983 as a Navy SEAL. After 1989, Little worked in a strategy and tactics group for the related Naval [Special Warfare Command], and in the private sector, doing intelligence collection and analysis relating to naval standard and special operations.Published works
In the first decades of the new millennium, Little has been doing research and writing, in particular non-fiction, with a focus on naval history relating to piracy, in particularly on "sea rovers"—from early sea raiders, to privateers, letter-of-marque men, and cruisers, to commerce raiders, and pirates and pirate hunters—including during the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean. Little has established himself as an expert on the history of piracy and related subjects, and has authored several books. As of January 2017, he is reported to be devoting time to writing contemporary and historical novels.Books
The following are cataloged book-length publications of Little, as of January 2017:Non-fiction
Fiction
Selected articles
Consulting
He has served as the historical consultant for the Black Sails television series, for the first three seasons at least, appearing as well on the nine minute featurette, 'Black Sails': An Inside Look that was packaged with the Blu-ray disc of the programme's first season. About the Black Sails production, Little has said: a statement about which Søren Dalager Ditlevsen of DR Kultur reported:
Little also served as consultant for the modern board game, Blood & Plunder from Firelock Games, "to ensure that all models, campaigns and strategies reflect the period."
Appearances
Little has appeared in two television documentaries on piracy.Critical reception
Interest in Little's work has been both scholarly and popular; notably, Pirate Hunting was chosen for review by both the Naval and U.S. Army War Colleges.Jack Gottschalk, a graduate of the Naval War College, an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University, and author of Jolly Roger with an Uzi, writing for the Naval [War College Review] with regard to Pirate Hunting, expressed the view that:
Writing in the National Maritime Historical Society's Sea History, Louis Arthur Norton, professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, recipient of two Gerald E. Morris Prizes for maritime historiography, and author of Captains Contentious, describes Little's The Sea Rover’s Practice as a "scholarly, informative, thought-provoking work," and states, "Considering all the titles that have been published in the last decade on piracy, this book is an excellent resource on its true nature."
As noted, Little's work in providing historical expertise to artistic and commercial efforts on piracy has been seen as imparting high quality to the projects.
Personal life
Little married Virgina Irene Buttram on March 8, 1986, at the Chapel at the Naval Air [Station North Island], on the north end of the Coronado peninsula in San Diego Bay. The couple had two daughters, born 1991 and 1994.As of February 2016, Benerson is reported to have been remarried, to Marry Crouch.
Little is described as devoting some of his spare time to research on "historical fencing," and is a fifteen-year teaching veteran of fencing, with thirty-five years in practice and earlier study under Hungarian masters Francis Zold and Eugene Hamori; as of January 2017, he is reported to be a Professional Member of the United States Fencing Association, and is a co-director of and fencing Instructor at the Huntsville Fencing Club.
As of 2010, Little resided in Huntsville, Alabama.