The Punishment of PiratesAn exploration of how the British Empire policed piracy that balances a sociological investigation into maritime state power with epic storytelling. Early in the seventeenth century boom of seafaring, piracy was a fertile ground for many enterprising and lawless young men to make fortunes on the high seas, due in no small part to the lack of policing by the British crown. But as the British empire grew from being a collection of far flung territories