<DIV><DIV>Villains of All Nations explores the &#8220;Golden Age&#8221; of Atlantic piracy (1716&#8211;1726) and the infamous generation whose images underlie our modern, romanticized view of pirates. Rediker introduces us to the dreaded black flag, the Jolly Roger; swashbuckling figures such as Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard; and the unnamed, unlimbed pirate who was likely Robert Louis Stevenson&#8217;s model for Long John Silver in Treasure Island.<br><br>This history shows from the bottom up how sailors emerged from deadly working conditions on merchant and naval ships, turned pirate, and created a starkly different reality aboard their own ships, electing their officers, dividing their booty equitably, and maintaining a multinational social order. The real lives of this motley crew&#8212;which included cross-dressing women, people of color, and the &#8220;outcasts of all nations&#8221;&#8212;are far more compelling than contemporary myth.<br><br></DIV>