The Pirates

Fact or fiction

As remarkable as is may seem, virtually all of the historical pirates that have shaped our impressions of pirates today (and the visions that we know from novels and movies) operated during a very brief period of time (for less than ten years starting in 1714) primarily in the Bahamas and off the coast of England's North American colonies, not the Caribbean as we often imagine! Even more remarkable is the fact that many of these knew each other and worked together! The definitive narrative of their history is the contemporary book (written in 1724) by the mysterious author "Captain Charles Johnson" A General History of the Pyrates.

The most prominent of these pirates formed a band known as the "Flying Gang." Led by Captain Benjamin Hornigold, and operating out of their stronghold at Nassau on the island of New Providence, they formed a virtual Republic of Pirates.