This book tells, in beautifully illustrated detail, the full story of piracy from its origins in the 16th century to the last great piratical wave in the early 19th century. It explores the lives of well-known buccaneers who carried out their raids under the protection of the English crown and the privateers that were relied on by the American Navy during the American Revolution to disrupt British shipping between England and the rebellious colonies. Other subjects covered include the ships, weaponry used, codes of behaviour and the lives of the colourful characters that roamed the high seas searching for plunder.
With over 50 history books in print, Angus is a widely recognised and much-published historian. While he specialises in military and naval history he has also written numerous more general history books, designed to make the subject more accessible to a wider audience. Uniquely he has been able to draw on his expertise as a senior museum curator who has worked on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as on his academic training as a historian and as a maritime archaeologist.
His latest book is a full-length biography: Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate, which is published by Wiley & Sons. of New York (June 2006)
Angus is also just finished writing a history of the Allied landings at Salerno in September 1943 for the British publisher Pen & Sword, and he is currently working on a new project, with the working title of Supership: The Quest for the Renaissance Battleship.
Angus lives in Edinburgh, in Scotland.
