★Created by David Cordingly-Keeper of Pictures and then Head of Exhibitions of the National Maritime Museum and John Falconer-former curator of the National Maritime Museum!
★ Brings together the National Maritime Museum's rich collection of flags, weapons, maps and fine art to explain the interesting and fascinating history of the pirate trade!

The image of the pirate never fails to capture the imagination. The cut-throat sea robbers of history who plundered richly laden merchant ships are legendary. The likes of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and Henry Morgan are romanticised and celebrated in popular culture. But fiction has taken the place of fact. Piracy was more brutal and rebellious than some of the best artistic depictions let on and in reality, few know the truth about this ruthless trade. What is the difference between a buccaneer and a corsair? Did pirates really bury their treasure? Is piracy still a threat to shipping today?
the book brings together the National Maritime Museum’s rich collection of flags, weapons, maps and fine artworks to explain the intriguing history of the pirate trade. It is the first port of call for anyone keen to separate the fact from the fiction.

David Cordingly was Keeper of Pictures and then Head of Exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum, London, where he organised such exhibitions as ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ and ‘Pirates: Fact & Fiction’. He is a graduate of Oxford University and has a doctorate from Sussex University. His books include Billy Ruffian, Cochrane the Dauntless and Life among the Pirates.

John Falconer is an historian and former curator at the National Maritime Museum. During his time at the Museum, he was a curator of the Pirates: Fact and Fiction exhibition. In 1993 he joined the British Library’s Oriental and India Office Collections as Curator of Photographs, and from 2011 until his retirement in 2017 he was Head of Visual Arts there.

chapter 1
the spanish main

chapter 2
the barbary corsairs

chapter 3
pirates in the indian ocean

chapter 4
the golden age of pirates

chapter 5
the eastern seas

chapter 6
pirates of fiction

chapter 7
piracy today

chapter 8
a pirate’s who’s who

introduction page
further reading page
index page