Infamous Pirates: Their Lives and Bloody Exploits

Despite his relatively conventional background—wealthy family, excellent education—Captain Misson of Provence went to sea at age sixteen, and in following his utopian vision became one of the forebears of the French Revolution. When, due to misadventure, he became the saintly pirate captain of the ship Victoire (renamed Republic of the Sea), he and his crew hoisted their own version of the Jolly Roger—a pure white flag with the motto "For God and Liberty." A legendary figure in the annals o...