In Pirates and Privateers Tom Bowling offers a lively history of piracy, from ancient times through the -privateers- such as Morgan, with their Letters of Marque (an early example of State-sponsored terrorism), to the still real and flourishing threat of contemporary pirates that patrol the less well-regulated shipping lanes of the world today.
Elisabeth lives on a Caribbean island, a very dangerous place. A young blacksmith is interested in her, but pirates are interested too. Where do the pirates come from and what do they want? Is there really a curse on their ship? And why can't they enjoy their gold?
Penguin readers are simplified texts which provide a step-by-step approach to the joys of reading for pleasure.
Music journalist Mason, a former pirate radio and club DJ in London,
explores how open source culture is changing the distribution and
control of information and harnessing the old system of punk capitalism
to new market conditions governing society. According to Mason, this
movement's creators operate according to piratical tactics and are
changing the very nature of our economy. He charts the rise of the
ideas and social experiments behind these latter-day pirates, citing
the work of academics, historians and innovators across a multitude of
fields. He also explores contributions by visionaries like Andy Warhol,
50 Cent and Dr. Yuref Hamied, who was called a pirate and a thief after
producing anti-HIV drugs for Third World countries that cost as little
as $1 a day to produce. Pirates, Mason states, sail uncharted waters
where traditional rules don't apply. As a result, they offer great ways
to service the public's best interests. According to Mason, how people,
corporations and governments react to these changes is one of the most
important economic and cultural questions of the 21st century.
Well-written, entertaining and highly original, Mason offers a
fascinating view of the revolutionary forces shaping the world as we
know it.
