The Golden Age of Piracy

The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Popularity of Pirates

By: David Head - Edited by

Narrated by: David Colacci

Twelve authors shed new light on the true history and enduring mythology of seventeenth and eighteenth century pirates in this anthology of scholarly essays.

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.

The Golden Age of Piracy also delves into the enduring status of pirates as pop culture icons. Audiences have devoured stories about cutthroats such as Blackbeard and Henry Morgan since before Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island. By looking at the ideas of gender and sexuality surrounding pirate stories, the renewed interest in hunting for pirate treasure, and the construction of pirate myths, the contributing authors tell a new story about the dangerous men, and a few dangerous women, who terrorized the high seas.

©2018 The University of Georgia Press; "The Persistence of Piracy in the British Atlantic" by Guy Chet reprinted from The Ocean is a Wilderness, copyright 2014 by the University of Massachusetts Press; "Blood and Lust" by Carolyn Eastman reprinted from New Men: Manliness in Early America, copyright 2011 by the New York University Press (P)2024 Tantor