Frederick H. Hanselmann's riveting recent book Captain Kidd's lost ship: the wreck of the Quedagh Merchant effectively combines explanations about academic archaeological approaches and cultural resource management with one of the most spellbinding and complex historical piracy narratives. Scottish privateer Captain William Kidd was executed for piracy by public hanging in 1701 for his capture of the Cara Merchant of Quedagh off the coast of Cochin, India. It was an Indian ship hired by Armenian merchants and loaded with satins, muslins, gold, silver and a variety of East Indian merchandise. The ship was subsequently abandoned by Kidd at Catalina Island in what is the present-day Dominican Republic. In 2007 a snorkeler found a coral conglomerate of cannons in shallow water and contacted the Dominican Republic's Oficina Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural Subacuático. The government agency contacted Indiana University, and for several years thereafter Hanselmann, an underwater archaeologist, participated in collaborative scientific investigations aimed at proving the identity of this shipwreck. Most significantly, the remains of the ship's hull on the seabed displayed unique Indian ship construction characteristics.

Inaugurated as a Living Museum in the Sea in 2011, the Naufragio de Capitán Kidd was protected under a new Dominican Republic law and promoted as an integral part of the country's heritage tourism. Hanselmann explains the value of in situ preservation as a best practice in underwater archaeology. He convincingly demonstrates the benefits of the community-based management approach used for the Quedagh Merchant, encompassing both cultural remains and natural resources living on and around the shipwreck site. Key to this process was fomenting local participation and ownership. The team sought to incorporate a wide variety of stakeholders on local and national levels. The dive community became involved in monitoring the site as part of a co-management implementation plan in protected marine areas. Another goal was for the scientific community to use the site as a teaching platform for students and interdisciplinary professionals in archaeology, biology, ecology and geology.

Archaeological readers will appreciate Hanselmann's discussion explaining the guiding principles of several frameworks typically used to analyse social processes such as world systems, agency and network theory. These can be applied to deconstruct the context of the ship's history in world trade—especially the expansion of globalisation in an extensive economic and political network connecting colonial agents, Armenian kings and British authorities. The volume also vividly describes life and events aboard Kidd's ship Adventure Galley as he crossed the Atlantic. It explores, as part of agency theory, the decisions he had to make as a privateer about options for capturing pirates, dwindling provisions, mutiny, scurvy and impressment of his crew by a naval vessel (the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice). The narrative captures the colourful mix of historical developments, political manoeuvrings and personal ambitions. For researchers interested in seventeenth-century piracy and privateering, this is a fascinating example of the nuances of the period. Quedagh Merchant was captained by an English East India Company representative, sailed under French passes and captured by a Scottish privateer who was later condemned as a pirate.

The author systematically presents the reader with a road map of archaeological investigations and the team's inferences that identified the site. These range from seeking and interpreting primary source documents to analysing the ballast stones for geological signatures, and the wood samples that turned out to be teak (Tectona grandis) indigenous to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and India, which was heavily used in ship construction. Only small portions of the wooden hull were recorded beneath the concreted cannon and anchors on the seabed, yet archaeologists teased out many pertinent diagnostic clues. Analysing the minutiae of carpentry techniques, such as scarph joints, square notching, plank joinery, seam caulking, fastening patterns and the use of ‘chenam’, a lime mix, to preserve timbers against seaworms, provided important pieces of information regarding the identity of the site as the wreck of the Quedagh Merchant. This work contains high-quality technical drawings and maps of the timbers, the site, photographs of the ballast stones and underwater views of concreted cannon and anchors. Another useful addition is a chronology of events at the outset of the volume that offers the reader a historical context for investigation.

This book will be a valuable contribution to the academic and maritime history community. It will also serve as an excellent text for courses in underwater archaeology method and theory, shipwreck archaeology, underwater cultural resource management and the maritime history and archaeology of the Caribbean. The volume should also appeal to all recreational readers keen to learn more about the global intricacies of piracy and the infamous Captain Kidd.