Pirate Nonfiction

Here, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: He shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods - that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy. His belly full of laughter, his life full of joy. Until one day, something changed; stripped his innocence away. The hole inside making space for the devil to come and play.

For this rousing, revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum has combed original documents and records to produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is pure fiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth that is more complex and often bloodier.

In 1860, a sloop drifted into New York Harbor. Not a soul on board - just blood from cabin to deck. Looted coins led to Bowery thug Albert Hicks, the ax slayer who turned his shipmates into chum. His crimes were absolutely fiendish. His execution was pure ballyhoo. It drew nearly ten thousand bloodthirsty sightseers to the city - including the enterprising showman P. T. Barnum. Refreshments were served as the most notorious and unrepentant mass murderer of the era made history as one of America’s first celebrity killers.

Hoist the mizzenmast and batten down those bloody hatches: Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World tells the hilarious-but-true adventures of history’s most amazing pirates.

The twelve entries in The Golden Age of Piracy discuss why pirates thrived in the seas of the New World, how pirates operated their plundering ventures, how governments battled piracy, and when and why piracy declined. Separating Hollywood myth from historical fact, these essays bring the real pirates of the Caribbean to life with a level of rigor and insight rarely applied to the subject.

Historical romance novelist Kate Inskip needs a break. Divorced, overworked, and completely stressed out, her writing buddies decide to surprise her with exactly what she needs - a vacation on a remote island that boasts a rich history and a crumbling castle built by an 18th-century pirate. But things don't go according to plan. A long flight, lost luggage, and a missed connection leave Kate wishing she'd stayed home. And a knife-wielding mugger is the last straw.

Earth: a space pirate's dream when it comes to booty but not a good place to hide when bounty hunters come looking. Pulling up stakes means Rafe must leave his vintage trailer behind, but in the process he acquires a passenger, a mouthy female who seems to think she's calling the shots. She'll soon learn who's the captain. And it isn't Annabelle, his sassy ship.

Husband-and-wife treasure-hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo have gone on impossible missions before and faced many perils, but never have they faced an adversary as determined as the one before them now. The battle will take them halfway around the world and at its end will be either one of the most glorious finds in history - or certain death.

She’s fleeing the secrets of her dangerous past. A swashbuckling privateer is her last hope. And the Inquisition is closing in… Captain Ethan Becket, a former Charles Town minister, sails the seas as a privateer, leaving behind the God who took everything from him. When his sister is taken by his enemies, he sets off to Cartagena in pursuit. Little does he expect his new Spanish governess to stow away on his ship. Yet her offer of help to free his sister is too tempting to pass up. And her beauty, both inside and out, is too attractive for his embittered heart to protect itself against....

In Paris, a ruthless descendant of Napoleon has risen to power, hell-bent on restoring France's former glory. His fiery ambitions are cynically stoked by a coterie of cold-blooded Mandarins, plotting behind the gates of Beijing's Forbidden City. Cloaked in secrecy, this unholy alliance devises a twisted global plan, backed by China's growing nuclear arsenal, that will send America and the world to the brink of a gut-wrenching showdown.

Heave ho, me hearties! This spirited collection will inspire all young pirates to set sail to faraway islands and seek adventures on the high seas. Master storyteller Richard Hope recounts the swashbuckling adventures of pirates from all over the world in a collection that is brimming with the perils and drama of life on the high seas.

Carter Mosley is thrust into an unexpected adventure when his childhood friend and former dive partner, Jeff Shelton, leaves him a cryptic message. Carter is hesitant given his friend's shadowy past, but loyalty draws him in. Joined by Avery Turner, he heads to England to follow the trail. The quest turns deadly when Jeff is murdered and a link to Captain Ace Mullins, a legendary pirate whose tale conceals a priceless treasure, is unveiled.

In a raging sandstorm, two men with their pregnant wives fatefully meet in the desert: Samir Al Fay, a Muslim doctor whose son will be named heir to the Prince of Beirut; and Isaiah Ben Ezra, a grizzled Jewish militant Zionist heading to the Promised Land. The women give birth - Samir's unconscious wife delivers a stillborn girl, Ben Ezra's wife dies delivering a healthy boy.

A ship was more to a pirate than just a place to make a living. Ships often provided more freedom than pirates could get in most places. Come aboard to see how pirates lived, worked, and fought on their ships.

Sanah would do anything to protect her little sister, even if it means taking refuge with ruthless pirates. But the psychically talented pirates terrorizing Commonwealth space are not quite the monsters she has been led to believe. When Sanah's empathic gift shows her the truth behind the stories, she is no longer certain who the villains are in her world.

Following the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) a decade-long wave of sea-robbery plagued the Atlantic rim—often glamorized as the "Golden Age of Piracy". Boston-based laborer, Edward Low, left his mark on pirate history as the most vicious and sadistic raider of them all.

Piracy and the Making of the Spanish Pacific World demonstrates that piracy is key to explaining the surprising longevity of Spain's Asian empire, which survived the Age of Revolutions and endured almost to the end of the nineteenth century. It offers important new insight into piracy's impact on the trajectory of globalization and European imperial expansion in maritime Asia.

Pirates have long lived in the realm of romance and fantasy, symbolizing risk, lawlessness, and radical visions of freedom. But at the root of this mythology is a rich history of pirate societies—vibrant, imaginative experiments in self-governance and alternative social formations at the edges of European empire. David Graeber explores how the proto-democratic, even libertarian practices of the Zana-Malata—an ethnic group made up of mixed descendants of pirates who settled on Madagascar at the beginning of the eighteenth century—came to shape the Enlightenment project.

You just tried out for the school play. Who wants the lead part more than anyone? YOU! Imagine stealing piles of jewels and gold coins. Living without rules. Wearing a metal hook and having a parrot as a pet. But be careful what you wish for. That might not be the way it was for a cabin boy on a pirate ship…