THE POWER OF THE PIRATES

Their flag meant death. What else did it mean?

- DANIEL IMMERWAHR

The ocean is a lonely, perilous place. It is especially so when you are aboard a leak-prone wooden vessel laden with a rich cargo of sugar, silks, and opium, like the traders sailing the Quedagh Merchant around India's southern tip in 1698. They surely panicked when they spied a massive warship with thirty-four mounted guns bearing down on them-or would have, had it not been flying French colors. The Quedagh Merchant had a document, written in an elegant hand, guaranteeing safe passage from France. French ships posed no threat; they might even offer protection, information, or supplies. The Quedagh Merchant sent over a boat with a French gunner carrying the pass. As he stepped aboard the warship, though, it hoisted a new flag: the English one. The gunner soon realized it was a trap. This wasn't a French ship; it was Captain William Kidd's Adventure Galley. And this wasn't a parley; it was a robbery.

For Captain Kidd, it was a lifechanging haul, one that he predicted would "make a great Noise in England." He was right. Kidd became the "Subject of all Conversation" there, a contemporary wrote, his life "chanted about in Ballads." One is still sung today: "My name is Captain Kidd,/And God's laws I did forbid, /And most wickedly I did,/As I sailed."

It's as if Kidd and his fellow-marauders never stopped sailing. These days, pirates are everywhere. The five "Pirates of the Caribbean" films have collectively grossed billions. And then there are the shows, games, memes, bars, festivals, and rum bottles. Three major sports teams are named for them-the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: the first two from cities with no connection to piracy whatsoever.