Piracy flourished in the early eighteenth century, producing many of the pirates whose names have gripped our imaginations: Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Bartholomew Roberts, to name a few. Yet piracy existed long before Blackbeard's name struck terror in the hearts of merchant seamen - Julius Caesar was captured by pirates - and it still exists today; boats sailing through the South China Sea are regularly attacked by modern-day buccaneers. The History of Pirates traces piracy from the seas of antiquity to the New World and beyond. It is a thorough, authoritative, and memorable portrait of the fascinating world of pirates. Detailed maps bear vivid testimony to the far-ranging exploits of these capricious, sometimes charismatic, and frequently bloodthirsty seadogs and highwaymen of the oceans.
