Global Piracy

Global Piracy does much to demythologize and demystify pirates for modern audiences ... The documents are fascinating, the related narratives are informative, and the glossary and bibliography are most-welcome additions. This is, in sum, a superlative introduction to the history of global piracy, and one would be hard-pressed to find a better starting point. It will be of great interest to students of world, maritime, and social history. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE * This volume's comprehensive, chronological and global scope illustrates a core message: that maritime piracy has always been an integral feature of the political and commercial order. It reveals that while piracy has exhibited cultural and circumstantial differences from region to region and time to time, it has featured consistent similarities in its internal dynamics and external settings. Most important, this volume reveals that pirates have never been hostis humani generis ( enemies of all mankind ). Pirates have been the friends, allies, and benefactors of many, which is why they have been so difficult to eradicate. What obscures this fact from many in Europe and North America is the fact that maritime predation has mostly disappeared in the Atlantic since the latter half of the nineteenth century, while it persisted and flourished elsewhere around the globe. This book ably illustrates how this Atlantic anomaly has skewed Westerners' understanding what global piracy is and how to address it. * Guy Chet, Professor of History, University of North Texas, USA * In this bold and impressively wide-ranging collection covering the global history of piracy, James E. Wadsworth provides a rich and fascinating selection of evidence to challenge longstanding romantic perceptions of the subject. Students will find this an essential guide and introduction to the subject, anyone with an interest in piracy will find it an attractive and thought-provoking collection. * John C. Appleby, Senior Lecturer in History, Liverpool Hope University, UK *