Table of Contents

Atlas. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction: The Quest. Chapter 1: Europe Comes of Age. Chapter 2: Knights of the Sea Chapter 3: The Shipbuilding Revolution. Chapter 4: The Great Rivals. Chapter 5: The Black Art of Gunfounding. Chapter 6: The Baltic Connection. Chapter 7: From Carrack to Galleon. Chapter 8: The Invincible Armada. Chapter 9: Phoenix from the Ashes. Chapter 10: Prestige over Practicality. Chapter 11: Towards the Holy Grail. Chapter 12: The Sovereign of the Seas. Postscript: The Ship of the Line. Notes. Bibliography. Credits. Index.

About the Author

Angus Konstam is a widely published authorwho has written several books on piracy,including Blackbeard: America's Most NotoriousPirate, The History of Pirates, and Piracy: The Complete History. A former naval officer and museum professional, he worked as a curator of weapons in the Tower of London and as the chief curator in the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida, before becoming a full-time historian and writer. An expert on weapons, shipwrecks, and piracy, he has advised several underwater archaeological groups and appears regularly on both the Discovery and the History channels. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.