Pirates - Angus Konstam

This book sets out to examine real pirates throughout history, from the ancient Mediterranean to the waters of the Caribbean, and from the eastern seaboard of America to the South China Sea. Stripped of romanticism, their crimes and their fates are detailed, and the reality revealed.

With the recent piracy situation in Somalia, I decided to revisit the issue and found this book at the library.  It is a good history of piracy from its earliest known beginnings up to the current situations in places like Somalia.

The book is full of good pictures which add greatly to its ability to provide insight into piracy.  For example, the types of ships favored by pirates are well-portrayed and give the reader a clear understanding of outmaneuvering a larger ship.  I learned a great deal from reading this book.  When I took history many years ago in school, Sir Francis Drake was not described as a pirate, which he certainly was, but as a great explorer.  This is but one of many fascinating tales in Pirates.

The book does a nice job of describing how and why pirates flourish at different times and in the different places.  It also covers the ongoing battles to protect ships and cargo from pirates throughout the ages.  This is a good book to fill in what you don't know about pirates and clear up misconceptions you have probably acquired.