During the 17th and 18th centuries, Bristol had the largest fleet of privateers in Great Britain. The number of vessels and men far outnumbered the slaving ships operating from the port. A ‘Letter Of Marque’ gave the Captain the power to attack any of the Sovereign’s enemies and this licence was much abused and led to piracy on a grand scale.

This book offers readers an insight into the lives and times of these Buccaneers and their adventures in the Caribbean, the Coast of Darien and into the Great Southern Ocean and New Spain.

These seafarers were daring skilled seamen, resourceful and at times incredibly brutal. Their exploits have fired the imagination of numerous writers and they have become the stuff of myth and legend which is still so potent today.