From the silver screen to the famous ride at Disneyland and beyond, pirates are everywhere. They appear on television, operate miniature golf courses, and even promote fast food. But have you ever wondered how a relatively small group of criminals from a short period of history came to invade popular culture? Who were pirates, and where do we get our ideas about them?

Rigorously examining the phenomenon through the lens of one of its central texts - the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions - Foxx Nolte explores the murky origins and surprising connections of the western world's favorite antiheroes. Each version of the classic attraction is fully analyzed, but the book goes beyond the confines of the theme parks to consider where these myths came from and what they say about us. They are all here, from Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks to Long John Silver, Captain Jack Sparrow, and a band of six plucky kids from Oregon. It's a treasure hunt through three hundred years of popular culture and you'll never look at talking parrots and buried treasure maps the same way again.