Did you know Julius Caesar was once captured by pirates? Were you aware that pirates made their victims walk the plank, preferring instead to make a profit by selling these poor souls into slavery? Did you know that the bloodthirsty pirate Blackbeard was fond of lighting slow-burning gunner` s matches in his long, coarse, black beard, making him look like a demon from hell?
Pirates explores the fascinating world of swashbuckling, from its roots in the ancient world, through its golden age in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, to today. Pirates describes what a pirate` s life was really like, including the laws, customs, and battle tactics, and presents the stories of some of the most successful, ruthless, and scandal-ridden pirates of all time.