The History of the Golden Age of Piracy
51m
Ever wondered what life was REALLY like for pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy in the late 17th and early 18th century?
Historian Luke Tomes is on a mission to find out, boarding a 17th Century replica Spanish Galleon to learn more about the world of trade in which piracy was born and what conditions were like for sailors at the time.
Luke then is given behind-the-scenes access to the National Maritime Museum's new exhibition on Piracy, seeing some of the most priceless artefacts relating to the Golden Age, including one of the first editions of 'A General History of Pyrates', published in 1724 and written by Captain Charles Johnson. In it we see some of the first depictions of the most notorious pirates in history, like Blackbeard, Bartholomew Roberts, Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
Finally, Luke travels to AC Sporting Targets in North London, where he meets up with John Hargreaves to test some of the weapons that would have been used by and against pirates during a raid at sea.