Pirates have long been stock figures in popular culture, from Treasure Island to the more recent antics of Jack Sparrow. Villains of all Nations unearths the thrilling historical truth behind such fictional characters and rediscovers their radical democratic challenge to the established powers of the day.

Marcus Rediker is Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History at the University of Pittsburgh and author of The Slave Ship: A Human History and Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age.