In Pirates, you are invited to step into a different world, steeped in legend. This is a journey through time, spanning more than 5,00Oyears and all seven of the world's oceans, during which you will encounter coastal pirates, privateers,corsairs, buccaneers, freebooters, and filibusters. With more than 500 historical illustrations, photos, and maps, the book recounts the rise and fall of notorious pirates, describes their ships and weapons, and gives an account of their lives on board Ship and on land. The compelling text, backed by solid facts and information, provides a unique insight into the history of piracy.

The widely popularized image of these rough-and-ready characters, often romanticized as adventurers brandishing cutlasses, and complete with eye-patch,wooden leg, and a hook for a hand, is often far removed from historical reality.

Comprising 13 chapters, Pirates charts the true history of piracy--from its earliest beginnings along the coasts around 5,000 years ago to the present day.The history of piracy covers an extremely varied spectrum, encompassing the Cilicians, who paralysed shipping during the Roman Empire; the Vikings; the fearless buccaneers of the Caribbean; and,in modem times, the seaborne bandits who continue to this day to threaten shipping routes, especially in southeast Asia. This book also describes the pirates'everyday life. What sort of people became pirates? What was life like on board a pirate ship? Did privateers really bury their treasure on desert islands? What laws governed the lawless? What role did women play in the world of pirates?This volume, containing a wealth of factual information and more than 500 illustrations, provides a fascinating insight into all aspects of the history of piracy.

PIRATES 6

THE ORIGINS OF

PIRACY 10

The first pirates 12

Pirates of ancient Greece 14

Rome's fight against the Cilicians 16

The Chain--the terror of the South

 China Sea 18

THE MIDDLE AGES 20

Vikings, Varangians and

 Normans 22

Viking ships 30

Pirates in the English Channel  32

The ships of the Middle Ages 34

Victual Brothers and Likededers 38

Klaus St6rtebeker--the most famous

 Victual Brother 40

Piracy in the Mediterranean 42

The Pintadosntattooed pirates 44

MODERN TIMES 46

The Barbary pirates 48

The Barbarossa brothers 52

The Maltese 54

Corsair slaves in the

Mediterranean 56

The Uskoks of Senj 58

The Wokou--Ming Dynasty

merchant pirates 60

THE NEW WORLD 66

The Iberian empire 68

Sailing the seas in Her Majesty's

 namenfreebooters 72

Sir John Hawkins from slave trader

 to knight 76

Sir Francis Drake--pirate and

 circumnavigator 78

BUCCANEERS AND

FILIBUSTERS 80

Huguenots on Hispaniola--the start

 of the buccaneer community 82

Hunters become pirates 84

Tortuga--the first pirate state 86

The Brethren of the Coast 88

Auxiliary troops against Spain 90

Port Royalpirate capital 92

Francois L'O11onais--

 the Butcher of the Caribbean 94

Sir Henry Morgan--

 His Majesty's freebooter 96

Sir Christopher Myngs--naval

 captain, freebooter and soldier 98

Michel de Grammont--

 nobleman and freebooter 99

William Dampier--circumnavigator

 of the globe, scientist, pirate 100

Tortuga--from a pirates' nest to an

 idyllic family home 103

The end of the buccaneers 104

THE GOLDEN AGE OF

 PIRACY 1 06

The English privateering policy 108

New Providence a new pirate

 metropolis 110

Contacts and trading 112

Samuel Bellamy--the Robin Hood

 of the seas 114

Howell Davis a robber with

 varying roles 116

Hunters and the hunted--

 pirates on the run 118

The pirate hunter

 Woodes Rogers 120

Edward Teach

 the notorious Blackbeard 122

Charles VanemWoodes Rogers'

 third opponent 125

Bartholomew Roberts uncrowned

 king of the pirates 126

Before the courts and on the gal-

 lows the last deathblow for the

 golden age 128

EVERYDAY LIFE FOR

 PIRATES 130

Life on board 132

Law and justice in piracy 134

Pirate ships 136

Pirate flags 138

Boarding and firing--battle tactics 140

Muskets and knives

 pirate weapons 142

How prisoners suffered at the hands

 of pirates 144

Navigation--orientation on the

 high seas 146

Hidden pirate treasure 147

Pirate feastsmno real pleasure

 to be had 148

Illness and death 149

Life on land 150

Colorful characters

 pirate clothing 151

Pirates sentenced 152

Slaves on board 154

Male-dominated society and

 matelotage 156

Women in the world of pirates 158

Anne Bonny and Mary Read 160

THE AGE OF THE

PIRATE ROUND 162

Thomas Tew and the treasure ship

 of the Great Mogul 164

The Pirate Round 166

Henry Avery--the '~krchpirate" 168

William Kidd--the scourge

 of the Indies 170

The "Pirate Island" of Madagascar 174

Libertalia--the pirate republic 176

Pirates of India and Arabia 178

CHINA AND SOUTHEAST

ASIA IN THE NINE-

 TEENTH CENTURY 182

The pirate confederation

 of Guangdong 184

The pirates of the Sulu Sea 188

The Iban--the headhunters

 of Borneo 194

FRENCH AND AMERICAN

 PRIVATEERS 1 96

The French corsairs 198

Jean Bart--leader of the corsairs

 of Dunkirk 200

Robert Surcouf--a successful

 corsair 202

The American privateers 204

John Paul Jonesman American

 national hero 206

The Lafitte brothers 208

MODERN PIRACY 210

The end of traditional piracy 212

Return of the pirates 214

The contemporary face of piracy 216

Tackling the problem of

 modern piracy 220

PIRATES IN ART

AND COMMERCE 222

Piracy in literature 224

Treasure Island--a classic

 pirate story 228

Pirates of the big screen 230

Pirates of the Caribbean 234

IN THE FOOTSTEPS

 OF THE PIRATES 236

Captain Kidd's treasure 238

The wreck of the Whydah 240

The Queen Anne's Revenge--

 Blackbeard's flagship 242

Chronology of piracy 244

Bibliography and resources 246

Photo credits 247

Index 248