Pirates: An Illustrated History - Hardcover

An erudite explanation of everything piratical, this book portrays the pirates, their weapons, their ships, their victims, and the historical background to all the saltwater tales of both pirates and navy. The exploits of the most famous pirates are also recounted here, from the cold-hearted ruthlessness of Blackbeard to the derring-do of Bartholomew Roberts, whose views were summed up by his motto: A merry life, and a short one.

Nigel Cawthorne studied at University College, London, where he gained an honours degree in physics, before turning to writing as a career. He has been a writer and editor for more than twenty-five years, the last twenty-one freelance. He has written, contributed to, and edited more than eighty books including Pirates: An Illustrated History, Turning the Tide: Decisive Battles of the Second World War, Stalin: The Murderous Career of the Red Tsar, and Mafia: History of the Mob. His work has appeared on both sides of the Atlantic in a variety of publications, including the New York Times and Financial Times, and he has even appeared on the Joan Rivers Show. Nigel lives in Bloomsbury in the heart of literary London.