Pirates dominate movie box-office profits, they are theme park entertainment, and they occupy a place in popular culture that has outlasted the era when they originally ruled the seas. Contemporary audiences who are safe from the pistols and cutlasses of the men who sailed the Caribbean, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans to prey upon ships and claim their cargo may find it hard to reconcile the perceived glamour of Captain Jack Sparrow with the authentic bloodlust and greed of the real pirates who killed without conscience, kidnapped innocent victims for ransom, and ravaged, bribed, and robbed their way into legend. Tragut Rais, Grace O’Malley, William Kidd, Blackbeard, and their colleagues were dangerous adventurers who lived at a time when piracy was an economic enterprise that yielded both wealth and a hangman’s noose.

This audiobook will teach you about:

• When pirates owned the seas
• The roots of piracy
• The original pirates of the Caribbean
• The pirate round
• Piracy after the Spanish War of Succession
• The pirates of the Barbary Coast
• The modern-day pirates

Most pirates had a short life before they were captured and executed. A few lucky ones did die of natural causes, but they were rare. Nonetheless, those tales of swashbuckling adventure under the Jolly Roger continue to mesmerize us. Listen to more about the reality of the golden age of piracy to find out whether or not Hollywood’s version can possibly compare with the truth.