The author reconstructs seventeenth- and eighteenth-century piracy from court records and legal testimony, presenting case studies of notorious sea robbers alongside contextual discussion of privateering, maritime commerce, and regional theaters of piracy. Chapters combine biographical sketches of individual captains with descriptions of seized ships, cargoes, and naval encounters, and they detail trial proceedings, witness statements, prosecutorial argument, and judicial sentences. The emphasis is on stripping legend to show how offenses, captures, and capital punishments were legally documented and adjudicated by contemporary courts and officials.