Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship

by Robert Kurson

On the Golden Age of Piracy, The Buccaneers of America by Alexandre Exquemelin, originally published in 1678 (and later published by Penguin Books), was essential reading, an eyewitness account of pirate life by a man who sailed with Henry Morgan, and it’s a page turner. Peter Earle’s The Pirate Wars, published by Thomas Dunne Books, gave a first-rate and highly readable account of how and why navies did battle with the buccaneers. The Invisible Hook, by Peter T. Leeson and published by Princeton University Press, provided a compelling look at the economics of pirate life, and shed new light on why, beyond the obvious reasons, pirates might have chosen such risky lives. As a general primer, David Cordingly’s Under the Black Flag, published by Random House, was indispensable and a pleasure to read.