Craig Cabell, Graham A. Thomas and Allan Richards

(Pen & Sword), 2012   192 pp., £19.99 hard, ISBN 978-1-84415-959-8

Edward Teach ‘Blackbeard' is one of the best known yet tantillisingly difficult to pin down because there have been so many accounts of his short, bloody career.  This new study looks for the man behind the legend and provides a vibrant awareness of the nature of piracy and the naval operations launched against it. The narrative looks particularly at the roles played by the Governor of Virginia Alexander Spotswood who masterminded the pursuit of Blackbeard and Lieutenant Robert Maynard of HMS Pearl who led the pursuit and finally cornered Teach and his crew and, after a vicious fight, saw him killed. In vivid detail, the authors reveals how the hunt for Blackbeard was planned and organised and how he was tracked down and killed.   The story is well told and well written and makes compelling reading.