George MacDonald Fraser, author of the Flashman novels, praises this hearty saga as "one of the great unrecognized novels of the 20th century." Doctor Peter Blood's quiet life is shattered when he is convicted of treason for helping a wounded nobleman in the 1685 rebellion against King James II.

He's swept into a slave ship to Barbados but escapes from slavery and a brutal plantation owner during a Spanish Pirate attack. He becomes a pirate and before long becomes the greatest buccaneer of them all. Raids, sea battles, sword fights, acts of gallantry and low cunning follow, recounted with zest and skill by a natural-born storyteller.