"Often romanticized in print and on the silver screen, real-life pirates were a brutal menace that plagued the high seas. In this book, Angus Konstam separates myth from reality, tracing the history of piracy through the centuries, from the pirates who plagued the Ancient Egyptians to the Viking raids and on to the era of privateers. He discusses the so-called "Golden Age of Piracy" and colorful characters such as Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, before...

The History of Pirates traces piracy from the seas of antiquity to the New World and beyond. Piracy flourished in the early eighteenth century, even Julius Caesar was captured by pirates-and it still exists today; boats sailing through the South China Sea are regulary attacked by modern-day buccaneers. Detailed maps bear vivd testimony to the far-ranging exploits of these capricious, sometimes charismatic, and frequently bloodthirsty deadogs and highwaymen...

An illustrated history of the crusades from their origins in the eleventh century, providing insight into the roots of the holy war and the religious differences that divided Islam for centuries.