Pirate Nonfiction

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.

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.

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.

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.

Avast! Are ye' ready to sail the high seas with some of the world's most feared pirates? These accounts will do more than shiver your timbers. Come aboard to witness the ruthless methods of history's most petrifying pirates.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

For more than 200 years, the wreck of the Whydah (and the riches that went down with it) eluded treasure seekers, until the ship was finally found in 1984 by marine archaeologists. The artifacts brought up from the ocean floor are priceless, both in value and in the picture they reveal of life in that much-mythologized era, changing much of what we know about pirates.

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.

Wendy came to the Never Isles to get away from the stress of everyday life. To find adventure and maybe even a little bit of romance. What she didn't expect was to get swept up by the charming sea captain with a gleam in his eye. A gleam that told her he wanted to do wicked things to her and lord help her she might just let him.

When elite operative John Stratton is sent to Yemen by the Secret Intelligence Service to track down a suspected al-Qaeda cell, he thinks he knows what he is dealing with. But when he and his colleagues get captured by Somali pirates, all bets are off. Stratton discovers what it is like to be held hostage by ruthless men who have a deadly agenda - men for whom Stratton and his colleagues are just bargaining chips. And this is no ordinary hostage situation: Stratton has stepped right into the middle of a massive and sickening jihadist operation.

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.