On a chartered catamaran off the coast of Barbados on a magical evening sailing away from the sunset with flying fish on all sides of us, one of my fellow guests suddenly asked if anyone on board (there were eight of us) knew the words to Stan Rogers’s “Barrett’s Privateers.” The other guests were English and American, so it isn’t surprising that I was the only one who did, and I obliged in my best baritone.

It seems the fellow was a U.S. history teacher. He told us that every year he plays Stan’s memorable song to demonstrate to his students that folks outside the U.S. often see their history and politics differently than Americans are taught to see them.

—Brian Given, Ottawa