Pirate Enlightenment

Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia is a book by David Graeber, published posthumously in 2023.

Description

In Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia, author David Graeber argues that Ratsimilaho, a member of the Zana-Malata Malagasy ethnic group and descendent of a pirate, oversaw a period of democracy and peace as a precursor to the Age of Enlightenment. Graeber contests the common portrayal of Ratsimilaho as a figure who brought European-style “civilization” to Madagascar.

Publication

The book began as an expansion of a chapter of Graeber's On Kings. Revisiting his early 1990s anthropology dissertation work in Madagascar, Graeber focused on the Zana-Malata and Betsimisaraka ethnic groups. Graeber finished writing the book in 2013.
Allen Lane acquired the book's UK rights via Janklow & Nesbit in September 2022. Its first print run with Farrar [Straus & Giroux] was 200,000 copies in the United States.

Reception

Pirate Enlightenment placed on LitHub and The Guardian most anticipated books of 2023. Upon its release, it appeared on the Indie Bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction, based on reporting from independent bookstores in the United States.