Pirates Terror On The High Seas From The Caribbean To The South China Sea

A comprehensive history of the many pirates that raided unsuspecting vessels in waterways around the world.

Pirates have become the mythical equivalent of giants, vampires, wizards, or witches, and they no longer seem quite real. Yet they definitely were real -- as this first comprehensive, worldwide historical survey makes clear -- and considerably more frightening than Long John Silver or Captain Hook. Piracy has always provided a good opportunity for ruthless men to seek their fortunes. But it was a dangerous calling, and few took up active piracy for more than a decade. This is the definitive story of larger-than-life but all-too-real buccaneers, freebooters, and corsairs who for centuries spread terror all across the briny deep . Over 200 full-color illustrations of pirate art and artifacts. Heavy coated stock. Oversize. Beautifully designed!

In Anarchy Unbound, Peter T. Leeson uses rational choice theory to explore the benefits of self-governance. Relying on experience from the past and present, Professor Leeson provides evidence of anarchy "working" where it is least expected to do so and explains how this is possible. Provocatively, Leeson argues that in some cases anarchy may even outperform government as a system of social organization, and demonstrates where this may occur. Anarchy Unbound challenges the conventional self-governance wisdom. It showcases the incredible ingenuity of private individuals to secure social cooperation without government and how their surprising means of doing so can be superior to reliance on the state.

With her pistols loaded she went aboard And by her side hung a glittering sword In her belt two daggers, well armed for war Was this female smuggler Was this female smuggler who never feared a scar. If a "hen frigate" was any ship carrying a captain's wife, then a "she captain" is a bold woman distinguished for courageous enterprise in the history of the sea. "She captains," who infamously possessed the "bodies of women and the souls of men," thrilled and terrorized their shipmates, doing "deeds beyond the valor of women." Some were "bold and crafty pirates with broadsword in hand." Others were sirens, too, like the Valkyria Princess Alfhild, whom the mariners made rover-captain for her beauty. Like their male counterparts, these astonishing women were drawn to the ocean's beauty -- and its danger. In her inimitable, yarn-spinning style, award-winning historian Joan Druett tells us what life was like for the women who dared to captain ships of their own, don pirates' garb, and perform heroic and hellacious deeds on the high seas. We meet Irish raider Grace "Grania" O'Malley -- sometimes called "the bald Grania" because she cut her hair short like a boy's -- who commanded three galleys and two hundred fighting men. Female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read were wanted by the law. Armed to the teeth with cutlasses and pistols, they inspired awe and admiration as they swaggered about in fancy hats and expensive finery, killing many a man who cowered cravenly before them. Lovelorn Susan "Put on a jolly sailor's dress/And daubed her hands with tar/To cross the raging sea/On board a man of war" to be near her William. Others disguised themselves for economic reasons. In 1835, Ann Jane Thornton signed on as a ship's steward to earn the fair wage of nine dollars per month. When it was discovered that she was a woman, the captain testified that Jane was a capital sailor, but the crew had been suspicious of her from the start, "because she would not drink her grog like a regular seaman." In 1838, twenty-two-year-old Grace Darling led the charge to rescue nine castaways from the wreck of the Forfarshire (the Titanic of its day). "I'll save the crew!" she cried, her courageous pledge immortalized in a torrent of books, songs, and poems. Though "she captains" had been sailing for hundreds of years by the turn of the twentieth century, Scotswoman Betsey Miller made headlines by weathering "storms of the deep when many commanders of the other sex have been driven to pieces on the rocks." From the warrior queens of the sixth century B.C. to the women shipowners influential in opening the Northwest Passage, Druett has assembled a real-life cast of characters whose boldness and bravado will capture popular imagination. Following the arc of maritime history from the female perspective, She Captains' intrepid crew sails forth into a sea of adventure.

The first book to thoroughly address the topic, this volume examines the ideologies, tactics, and goals of environmental terrorists and offers a security planning methodology to defend against their attacks. To counter eco-terrorism, we must understand why it occurs. Eco-Warriors, Nihilistic Terrorists, and the Environment is a comprehensive examination of the vulnerability of the natural environment, of its nexus with the strategic goals of terrorists, and of a security-planning methodology that can prevent or ameliorate environmentally linked attacks. The first book to comprehensively address the prevention of environmentally focused terrorism, this work looks at the environment and the private and government facilities that impact it as assets to be protected. Focusing on the capability of lone-wolf terrorists and small, self-radicalizing cells to commit effective violent acts, security expert Lawrence E. Likar furnishes personality and operational profiles of both nihilistic and eco-warrior terrorists, showcasing an essential component of the behavioral-science-based, security-planning methodology he promotes. Most critically, the book addresses the gap in current security-planning methodology and literature, and it reveals novel intelligence-gathering techniques, operational procedures, and countermeasures designed to defend against attacks.

This book examines the complex phenomena of modern maritime piracy. The work offers a cutting-edge analysis of modern maritime piracy in the two most pirate-prone regions – southeast Asia and northeast Africa – from the late twentieth century to the modern day. These case studies present a detailed exploration of how regional and international governments responded to upsurges of piracy and how responses have evolved over the course of the past 40 years. This analysis reveals the results of these efforts and what effect, if any, suppressing piracy at sea had on tensions and instability ashore. The book transcends a simple narrative, providing detailed and extensively researched case studies of contemporary manifestations and responses at the strategic, operational and tactical levels. New insights are offered, such as the role of external navies in the repression of piracy in northeast Africa before the well-documented escalation in 2005. In addition, this book constructs a comparative analytic framework to gauge the effectiveness and shortcomings of modern attempts to counteract piracy, which reveals lessons learned, future policy projections and wider implications. This analysis adds new classifications, innovative concepts and scholarly depth to the field of maritime security studies, naval history and theory and international relations. This book will be of much interest to students of naval history, maritime security, strategic studies and international relations.

This book gives an accurate picture of the pirates who sailed in the waters of the Caribbean and off the American coastline during the 'golden age' of piracy between 1660 and 1730. It traces the origins of piratical activity in the 16th century and examines the Boucaneer (Buccaneer) culture in Jamaica and Hispaniola. It details what drove individuals to a life of piracy, how they dressed, their weaponry, the ships they used and the codes by which they operated. Whether viewed as villains or victims the Pirates were a major threat to shipping and commerce in the western Atlantic for more than 70 years. Elite 67, 69 and 74 are also available in a single volume special edition as 'Pirates'.

The Pirate Encyclopedia, as the essential companion for scholars, students, and a general audience intrigued by tales and facts, offers the most complete body of data available on the legitimacy of more than 7.000 adventurers as subjects of investigation.