Black Flags, Blue Waters reveals the dramatic history of American piracy’s “Golden Age”—spanning the late 1600s through to the early 1700s—when lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North America and beyond. Eric Jay Dolin illustrates how American colonists at first supported these outrageous pirates in an early display of solidarity against the Crown and then violently opposed them. Through engrossing episodes of roguish glamour and extreme brutality, Dolin depicts the star pirates of this period. Also brilliantly detailed are the pirates’ manifold enemies. Upending misconceptions and cartoonish stereotypes, Dolin provides this original account of the seafaring outlaws whose raids reflect the precarious nature of American colonial life.