This is the story of Stephen Owens, after a rough childhood, finds himself at home with a pirate crew. The story follows Stephen as he interacts with historical figures in situations they could have possibly been in. Unlike a lot of tales of pirates this historical has been thoroughly researched and does not portray pirates as swashbucklers from the Errol Flynn era of Hollywood films.

Stephen uses piracy to fight the ills of the British and Spanish empires chief among them slavery, and gets rich in the process through both skill and luck. The people he meets in the course of his adventures all have different motives than he for their piracy but they all have one thing in common. They are criminals in the eyes of the law and the realisation that they could be killed, either by the noose or in combat, does not deter them from their lifestyle of choice.