Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates

Dolin has penned masterly histories of North American whaling (Leviathan), lighthouses (Brilliant Beacons), and now piracy. The golden age of piracy (late 1600s to early 1700s) is well known, with accounts ranging from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure Treasure Island to David Cordingly's history Under the Black Flag, which dismantled Hollywood myths about buccaneers and swashbucklers. But Dolin focuses on pirates who raided or sought refuge along the Atlantic seaboard of colonial America, influencing politics and society. Pirates injected gold and loot into cash-poor communities, boosting local economies. Colonial governors and merchants outfitted pirate expeditions or took bribes to look the other way as pirate ships resupplied or repaired in coastal waters. Other colonials fought piracy, while pirates attacked the colonies—the notorious Blackbeard once threatened to sack Charleston, SC. Others were privateers, sanctioned by British or colonial authorities to raid "enemy" shipping. Dolin points out that pirates were mostly hardheaded entrepreneurs who relied on intimidation rather than brute force.