Who doesn't love pirates? From Captain Hook to Captain Jack Sparrow, Blackbeard to Black Bart, these pistol-packing, cutlass-flashing, bandana-topped outlaws of the high seas have stirred the imagination for hundreds of years with their adventurous spirit, their love of rum, fighting, plunder, and the way they growl "ARRRR." This richly illustrated book invites readers to cruise the Caribbean and prowl the Spanish Main. Pirates is a colorful and insightful exploration of real-life buccaneers, corsairs and privateers, spirited women pirates, often-overlooked black pirates, and the pirates of screen, from Douglas Fairbanks to Johnny Depp. Find out why they went to sea, how they really lived, fought, ate and died, and which of the stories about eyepatches, peg legs, walking the plank are true. It's a thrilling ride through time and myth that makes you appreciate why a pirate's life for all of us.