The modern image of the pirate is derived from Captain Charles Johnson’s accounts of the cut-throats who sailed under the Jolly Roger. It was he who gave mythical status to the likes of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd. Using contemporary sources, Nigel Cawthorne now turns the spotlight on the reality of pirate life, revealing the truth behind the legends. It gives us an insight into the men – and women – their weapons, their ships, their unhappy victims and their hide-outs, including the capital city of the pirate ‘empire’, Port Royal in Jamaica – known as the ‘wickedest city in the world’.