While it picks up some steam at the end, this book was a bit of a disappointment. It was obviously well-researched, but the author seemed to include every available detail (cargo manifests, etc.), making the text dryer than it need have been. The author's habit of providing names for seemingly every historical figure whose name is recorded also made the book difficult to follow. The reader has no way of knowing whether a given individual is important and liable to return, or a semi-anonymous "extra" who could be dismissed safely. Some editorial restraint would've aided the readability. For people interested in non-fiction work about pirates, I'd recommend instead "Empire of Blue Water" or "If a Pirate I Must Be."