The Pirate Wars takes the romantic fable of oceangoing Robin Hoods sailing under the "banner of King Death" and contrasts it with the murderous reality of robbery, torture, and murder on the high seas. Noted maritime historian Peter Earle charts centuries of piracy, from Cornwall to the Caribbean, from the sixteenth century to the hanging of the last pirate captain in Boston in 1835. Along the way, we meet characters like Edward Teach, the notorious "Blackbeard," the treasure-hungry Captain Kidd, the dreaded corsairs of Barbary, and the defiant buccaneers of the West Indies.

Originally published in 1724, this famous account of the lives and exploits of the most notorious pirates of the day was an immediate success. Written by the mysterious Captain Johnson (who was for some years thought to be Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe), it appeared in the book world at a time now described as "The Golden Age of Piracy."With his dramatic writing style, which vividly captures the realities of their savage existence, the author documents specific events, including trials, of a number of the most feared pirates. Highly detailed, these accounts ensure the pirates were accurately depicted in all their gruesome glory. Indeed, the work has become the main source for scholars hoping to learn more about the female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny (both of whom escaped execution by being pregnant), and was largely responsible for the posthumous fame of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd.From Long John Silver to Captain Hook, pirates have been figures of horror and fascination for centuries. That these literary creations grew from factual evidence, much of it from this book, only serves to fire the imagination and keep their stories alive. In the ensuing 270 years since its first publication, A General History of the Pirates has come to be generally regarded as the classic study of one of the most popular subjects in maritime history.

In the history of the world, there has never been a comprehensive book on the pirate language. "The Pirate Primer" is the first and only--it explores in a definitive way the unique vernacular of English-speaking pirates covering vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and syntax.

Blackbeard's extraordinary life of excess during the Golden Age of Piracy ignited a reputation that struck terror into men's hearts from Virginia to Barbados. Leading a flotilla of ships through the clear waters of the Indies, he left in his wake the image of a "ranting, roaring, swaggering, swearing" sea captain that is still remembered today. Blackbeard's life on the high seas, chasing wealth, freedom, and power, ended in a bloody battle that ultimately marked a turning point in history.

This book accompanies a multimillion-dollar BBC-National Geographic drama that explores the reality of the man behind the beard. Far from the caricature of films and novels, Blackbeard was a complex character who was as charming as he was ruthless. The atrocities he indulged in, and how they eventually proved to be his undoing, are here explored through a fresh appraisal of surviving contemporary documents. Today, we might associate pirates with peg-legs, parrots and dreamy tropical islands, but the disturbing truth is the stuff of nightmares.

The Pirate Queen begins in Ireland with the notorious Grace O'Malley, a scourge to the most powerful fleets of sixteenth-century Europe. This Irish clan chieftain and pirate queen was a contemporary of Elizabeth I, and a figure whose life is the stuff of myth. Regularly raiding English ships caught off Ireland's west coast, O'Malley purportedly fought off fierce Algerian pirates just hours after giving birth to her son. She commanded two hundred men (and a couple of husbands), and acquired lands and castles that still dot the Irish coastline today. But O'Malley was not alone, especially in the waters of the North Atlantic where author Barbara Sjoholm traveled through coastal communities and seafaring ports to collect these little-known stories. Since ancient times, women have rowed and sailed, commanded and fished, built boats and owned fleets. Yet their incredible contributions have been nearly erased from the history books, as have the myths of seal women, Finn wives, and storm witches. In The Pirate Queen, Sjoholm brings some of these extraordinary stories back to life, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey in this meticulously researched, colorfully written, and truly original work. Illustrations and maps add to these intriguing swashbuckling tales