The Pirate Menace

Uncovering the Golden Age of Piracy

The Pirate Menace cover

The Pirate Menace

Uncovering the Golden Age of Piracy

Description

This new account explores the most notorious pirates in history and how their rise and fall can be traced back to a single pirate haven, Nassau.

Angus Konstam, one of the world's leading pirate experts, has brought his 30 years of research to create the definitive book on the Golden Age of Piracy. Many of the privateers the British had used to prey on French and Spanish shipping during the War of the Spanish Succession turned to piracy. The pirates took over Nassau on the Bahamian island of New Providence and turned it into their own pirate haven, where shady merchants were happy to buy their plunder. It became the hub of a pirate network that included some of the most notorious pirates in history: Blackbeard, 'Calico Jack' Rackam, Charles Vane and Bartholomew Roberts.

The growth of piracy led to a major surge in attacks in the Caribbean and along North America's Atlantic seaboard. With the fragile maritime economy of the Americas threatened with collapse, major ports were threatened and trade brought to a standstill, the British government finally declared war on the pirates. The Pirate Menace draws on extensive research, as well as a wide range of first-hand accounts, to produce a new history of the heyday of historical piracy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations in Plate Section
A Note on Time, Nation and Distance
Maps
Prologue
Introduction


1. Beyond the Line
2. Henry Jennings
3. Piracy in the Bahamas
4. Benjamin Hornigold
5. Profile of a Pirate
6. A Commune of Pirates
7. Edward Thatch
8. Sam Bellamy
9. Stede Bonnet
10. The Carrot and the Stick
11. Woodes Rogers and Charles Vane
12. The Pirate-hunter
13. Pursuing the Die-hards
14. The Buck Legacy
15. The Great Pyrate
16. The Enemies of Mankind

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published 09 May 2024
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 352
ISBN 9781472857774
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 8-page plate section in colour
Series General Military
Short code GNM
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Angus Konstam

Angus Konstam is a Fellow of the Royal Historical…

Resources

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