The Pirates' Code

Pirates have long captured our imaginations with images of cutlass-wielding swashbucklers, eye patches, and buried treasure. But what was life really like on a pirate ship? Piracy was a risky, sometimes deadly occupation, and strict orders were essential for everyone’s survival.

These “Laws” were sets of rules that determined everything from how much each pirate earned from their plunder to compensation for injuries, punishments, and even the entertainment allowed on ships. These rules became known as the “Pirates’ Code,” which all pirates had to publicly swear by.

Using primary sources like eyewitness accounts, trial proceedings, and maritime logs, this book explains how each one of the pirate codes was the key to pirates’ success in battle, on sea, and on land.

'In eight snappy chapters, the reader is smuggled aboard brigs, schooners and sloops, each infested with rats and chittering cockroaches...Simon’s writing is informative and packed with fascinating detail...It all makes for a hair-raising adventure, and a handy guide for anyone hoping to understand — or prepare for — the pirate way of life.' – Daily Telegraph

'In her impressively researched book, Simon offers an engrossing account that goes well beyond the romanticized Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow view of life as a criminal on the high seas. Her chapters on health and safety, sex and relationships, weapons and battle tactics, and entertainment on pirate ships are particularly enlightening...For a rollicking account of the reality of the 'Golden Age' of piracy, Simon’s book should float your boat.' – Independent, "Books of the Month"

'In this zesty and eye-opening history . . . Simon has combed a variety of sources to paint a colorful and evocative portrait of that ‘golden age of piracy’ in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth Century.' – Mail on Sunday