Pirates

by Ross Kemp

Pirates have been around as long as people have used the oceans as trade routes, and their reign on the world's high seas has inspired many a novelist. But the type of pirate Ross Kemp is investigating now is a world away from the cutlass-and-peg-leg stereotype of Treasure Island and Pirates of the Caribbean. The corsairs he meets in Somalia, Indonesia and Nigeria are armed with AK47 assault rifles, RPG-7 rocket launchers and semi-automatic pistols. They race towards their targets in speed-boats and board and capture vessels in a flash. They are violent, dangerous and ruthless - they will stop at nothing to get the ransoms they have demanded.

Piracy is becoming an increasingly serious problem that is not going away. As the pirates he meets stretch their operations ever further to new hunting grounds, Kemp finds out, often to his cost, how much of a force to be reckoned with they are.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Czeska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all of his books!

[Gary Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of piracy and a world tour of piracy hot-spots such as the South China Sea, Nigeria, and the Somali coast. Like the TV series this is ballsy reporting and is well researched revealing incites into a dangerous world. Kemp uses a few too many cliches, using three in a row in one instance, but overall this is well very written, tense, and occasionally very funny. A good quick read.

[Louise Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

All credit to him for getting out there - but this is more informative about a man's attempt to get out there then it is about pirates - good for macho character interest, light on analysis.