Before diving into the Golden Age of Piracy, Dolin sets the scene with the Treaty of Tordesillas and the circumnavigation of the globe by Drake, which was summed up quite nicely.. Then from the 1640s to the 1680s he describes how the American colonies developed a profitable relationship with pirates. Even Puritan Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts welcomed them with open arms. "Red Sea Men" as they were called, brought in the first silver bullion and hundreds of America's earliest slaves. Besides the more infamous names, we're introduced to Dixie Bull, Thomas Paine, Michel Landresson, Thomas Pound, Thomas Tew, Adam Baldridge, John James, John Quelch, Lewis Guittar and more. Then of course there are the determined pirate hunters: Thomas Thacker, William Dyer, Captain Pease, Robert Snead, Lord Bellomont and even Salem Witch Trial judge Samuel Sewall. But with pirate booty lining the pockets of prominent merchants and royal governors, it would take new laws and a complete political overhaul to reel in the pirates' success.

Dolin really delivers here. Black Flags, Blue Waters fills in some of the gaps that other pirate histories leave behind. I appreciated that this one stuck to the American colonies, rather than focusing solely on Jamaica and Madagascar. People tend to forget that the pirates may have raided int he Caribbean but they unloaded in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Charleston. But Dolin doesn't overpower the reader with every little prize taken or world politics either. He effectively proves that pirates had a direct effect on the economy, the local government and inter-colonial relationships. The colonies were as active in the Golden Age of Piracy as any island in the Caribbean. ( )

Fascinating look back at the Pirate era and the reasons for Pirates and how they helped colonies at times economic wise ( )