Pirates are intriguing figures who, depending on perspective, can be regarded as either national heroes or irredeemable scoundrels, or perhaps both in equal measure. In Pirate Menace, Angus Konstam focuses on the intricate networks in which pirates operated. Who a pirate followed, and who followed them, often depended on those associations.

Konstam makes a commendable and successful effort to discern the complicated relationships among the various pirates. Untangling that network is a daunting task. Given the transient nature of maritime work, sailors of the early eighteenth century could find themselves on an East Indiaman bound for Calcutta or a Guineaman bound for Jamaica. If the maritime world was a stage, then every player had their exits and entrances, and any single pirate played many parts over a career. Many of them had sailed on warships or merchantmen, or cut logwood at various points before seizing the opportunity to go pirate. Most seamlessly transitioned between the legal and criminal worlds depending on the situation. Government officials were often lenient if not outright collaborative, and so defining who was an outright pirate, itinerant smuggler, or legitimate privateer often depended on the observer and on the surrounding circumstances.

Konstam divides his work into sixteen chapters. He begins in Port Royal, Jamaica. By starting with Port Royal, Konstam provides a bridge between the age of buccaneers and the Golden Age of Piracy. He also provides the geopolitical setting in which there was “no peace beyond the line” (to use a common maritime saying). With Port Royal’s destruction by earthquake, Konstam gradually shifts his focus to Nassau and its heightened importance during and after the War of the Spanish Succession, which ushered in that Golden Age. Konstam illuminates the pirate networks by presenting those two ports as central geographic hubs that attracted pirates. Nassau was where many notable figures of this age planned, recruited, and organized. They introduced themselves and assembled expeditions, and either rose together (if successful) or shattered trust among themselves (if unsuccessful). Although many pirate crews plundered the Eastern Seaboard from Newfoundland to Spanish Florida, their journeys almost invariably led to Nassau.

Konstam also analyzes the wreck of the Spanish Treasure Fleet of 1715 as a catalyst for piracy, as illegal salvors from Jamaica swarmed over the foundered ships and scavenged whatever they could carry from under Spain’s nose. Konstam’s utilization of the history of shipwrecks is a unique approach and explains a constant source of temptation at the center of a peacetime West Indies. As Jamaica became an untenable base, many pirates such as Henry Jennings sought safety in Nassau.

The remaining chapters chronologically follow the careers of notable pirates and examine how these marauders fell in with each other and, in some cases, betrayed their comrades. It culminates with Woodes Rogers’ governorship of Nassau and the steps he took to either co-opt or stamp out pirate groups in the British West Indies. This carrot and stick approach provided avenues for pirates to return to legitimate maritime ventures with a clean slate. For those who resisted, they could only expect a relentless pursuit and ultimate destruction.

Konstam contextualizes piracy within the political and economic forces at work. By utilizing contemporary news articles, legal documents, and government correspondence, Konstam paints an exquisitely detailed setting. He also provides a useful description of what kind of person would become a pirate, citing the appeal of piracy as well as the coercion that some pirate crews would exert in order to impress sailors and, especially, specialists into their company. Konstam intermittently interrupts his account to explain the background of certain events and personalities, thus preventing the reader from getting lost in the blow-by-blow accounts of which pirate took which prize. All these piratical actions and outside forces are tied together. Those forces include the changing roles of Vice-Admiralty courts and wealthy backers and government agents deciding they did not need pirates’ services after all. Pirates considered pardons, crackdowns, and increased government control in the Americas as they weighed their options. As backers found that pirates were more of a liability than an asset, and as the mostly absentee Lords Proprietor were replaced by more vigorous administrators, pirates realized they were headed into the sunset. By the end of this age, pirates had truly become regarded as villains of all mankind.

Osprey Publishing is a suitable press to offer Konstam’s work. Osprey was originally set up for historical miniatures and war gaming; thus, its target readership consists of enthusiasts and casual readers rather than experts in the field. That is a strength and not a liability. In this way, Pirate Menace is much like David Cordingly’s Under the Black Flag (1997). A general readership could readily use this work as a springboard in order to delve into other books on piracy, such as Benerson Little’s The Sea Rover’s Practice (2005) and Kris Lane’s Pillaging the Empire (2015).

Pirate Menace, however, is vigorous enough to also contain much useful information for any maritime historian. I would recommend this as a companion for both specialist and general readerships alike. It is a useful complement to Marcus Rediker’s Many-Headed Hydra (2000) and Villains of All Nations (2004). Instead of falling between vigorous scholarship and passing interest without fully satisfying either camp, Pirate Menace firmly plants its feet on both sides and delivers an informative, engaging, and entertaining account of pirates. Those marauders were often tossed about by economic and political currents, but they also displayed calculated and vicious behavior if it could work to their advantage. Konstam provides the suitable context in which to examine the ties that bound these vagabonds.