I enjoyed this book. If you like reading history told as a novel, where you kind of know the story but not really, this will grab you. I especially liked how the author realted details like what life was like in Manhattan in the 17th century, how pirates lived, what trials and imprisonment was like in England, even how you went to the bathroom on board a ship.Two minor complaints: first, the author has an annoying tendency to italicize words seemingly at random and sometimes 2 or 3 times in a single sentence! Second, there is a bit of repetition; for example, every time someone goes to jail, they "rot" there.