Pirates lived to plunder, loot, and steal. Stolen booty was the payoff that justified all the hardships of life at sea. There was a certain method to the madness of pirate attacks that was developed over time. Like other aspects of pirate life, attacks were carried out in different ways at different times. But during piracy's golden age, pirates had refined their methods to the point that many offensives had similar characteristics. When there was a fight, it usually involved stealth, trickery, and surprise. With only two thousand or so pirates operating at any one time, the fine art of freebooting was a lesson pirates learned from one another.

Sizing Up the Victim

Pirates tried hard to build a reputation of great cruelty. Terror, or the threat of terror, was their most effective weapon. Since they were not...