Steven Berlin Johnson
Author of The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
About the Author
Image credit: Steven Berlin Johnson. Photo courtesy Meet the Media Guru.
Works by Steven Berlin Johnson
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World (2006) 4,596 copies, 198 reviews
Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter (2005) 1,979 copies, 45 reviews
Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software (2001) 1,825 copies, 24 reviews
The Invention of Air: A Story Of Science, Faith, Revolution, And The Birth Of America (2008) 966 copies, 36 reviews
Interface Culture : How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate (1997) 366 copies, 4 reviews
Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History's First Global Manhunt (2020) 318 copies, 9 reviews
The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective (2024) 91 copies, 3 reviews
How We Got To Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World [young reader's edition] (2018) 48 copies, 2 reviews
Associated Works
Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984 (2001) — Contributor — 167 copies, 2 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Johnson, Steven Berlin
- Other names
- Johnson, Steven
- Birthdate
- 1968-06-06
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Washington, DC, USA
- Places of residence
- Park Slope, New York, USA
Marin County, California, USA - Education
- St Alban's School, Washington, USA
Brown University
Columbia University - Occupations
- non-fiction writer
media theorist
Members
Discussions
The 2013 Science, Religion, and History group read discussion thread in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (March 2017)
The Ghost Map - Group Read in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (April 2013)
Reviews
Lists
Crime (1)
Disaster Books (1)
Book Club List (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 23
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 14,924
- Popularity
- #1,536
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 479
- ISBNs
- 226
- Languages
- 15
Henry Every was one of the richest pirates in history and not how you'd expect. Instead of vying for Spanish Treasure Fleets, Every took his men to Madagascar. In the 17th century, India and the Mughal Empire, boasted the richest kingdom in the world. Despite the East India Co.'s attempts to dominate, the Grand Mughal Aurangzeb kept them on a tight leash. But whatever beneficial relationship the British had soon crumbled after Every took the Ganj-i-Sawai. The "Ganj-i-Sawai" or Gunsway, was massive, far larger than Every's "Fancy" and carried an astounding amount of treasure as well as pilgrims from Mecca. These were all noblewomen of Aurangzeb's own family. What happens next, as Every's men took the ship, I won't describe in detail. Suffice it to say Aurangzeb anger could not be contained. The East India factory in Surat was seized and an international bounty was put on Every's head.
While I can't seem to find the perfect biography of Every, this one is still better than "The Pirate King." Unlike "The Pirate King," Johnson does not try to romanticize Every in any way. The men "were r*pists of the worst order" and as captain, Every bears full responsibility. Referring to Indian narrative and survivor testimonies, Johnson effectively dispels the myth of Every as the "Robin Hood" of the seas. In fact, Every also promised to never attack English ships, but he did. Using an alias, he even money launders some of his loot in exchange for slaves, the "universal currency," to sell in the colonies. While Johnson included so much that is often ignored or glossed over, it did help that I had read Woodard and Cordingly first. It needed just a bit more leading into the Golden Age.… (more)