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Osprey Publishing
August 2008
On Sale: August 19, 2008
368 pages
ISBN: 1846032407
EAN: 9781846032400
Hardcover
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Military | Historical
When we think of pirates we conjure up images of
Blackbeard and Captain Kidd, or even fictional pirates
such as Long John Silver, Captain Hook and Captain Jack
Sparrow. These historical characters all hailed from one
period. Known as "The Golden Age of Piracy", this period
only lasted around a quarter of a century - from around
1700 until 1725. However, piracy has been around a lot
longer than that. In fact ever since people started
venturing onto the sea, others were waiting to waylay
them.
Pirate expert Angus Konstam sails through the
brutal history of piracy, from the pirates who plagued the
Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans to the Viking raids
on northern Europe through the golden age of piracy and on
to the era of privateers who flourished during a period of
constant warring on the European continent. He then
examines the West's initial encounters with Eastern
pirates off the Chinese coast whose confederations had
sprung up in the 17th century and whose actions were
severely hampering the West by the 19th century. Finally
Konstam examines the phenomenon of the modern pirate,
preying on modern super tankers. The reality of piracy is
that it is a vicious, often deadly business. By separating
the realities of piracy from the Hollywood-inspired
fiction, and by tracing the development of piracy through
the centuries, this book gives a realistic vision of what
piracy actually involves.
The book includes
approximately 100 color and black & white images, eight
maps, a glossary of sea terms, notes on sources and a
bibliography.
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