Cornish Wrecking, 1700-1860

A painstaking, well-considered and persuasively argued account of wrecking that shatters the well-established image of the wreckers, and that engages with some of the central issues of crime and the law in Hanoverian and early Victorian England. [...] Pearce's book constitutes a significant addition to knowledge and understanding in a variety of areas that are of considerable interest to contemporary students of history. * JOURNAL FOR MARITIME RESEARCH * Cathryn Pearce has done a masterly job in challenging the traditional stereotype of the Cornish wrecker. ... Cornish Wrecking is full of interesting and well-chosen anecdotes, matching the violent with the humane. [...] This book can be warmly recommended. * THE LOCAL HISTORIAN * This pioneering work is helpful for legal and administrative historians, suggestive for social and literary historians, and necessary for maritime historians. * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY * Maritime historian Cathryn Pearce has produced by far the best - in fact the only - authoritative study of wrecking in Cornwall. www.smuggling.co.uk * . * Provides one of the most detailed explanations of the Law and Rights of Wreck that I have read in any non-legal work, and written in clear and concise language. [...] This book really is an excellent piece of research on a subject which is more often told on the basis of myth. * SOUTH WEST SOUNDINGS * Must surely be the definitive study of the subject. [...] Well-researched, well-written and well-presented, Cornish Wrecking is a model study of a controversial practice in Cornish - and British - history which continues to this day. * CORNISH BANNER * A highly readable and intriguing examination of an often misunderstood subject. * PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS *