Reviewed by Rachel Hyde, MyShelf.com
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There is a part of most of us that finds some empathy with the pirate ethos of freedom; sailing the seas, helping yourself to treasure and being your own master. Travel writer Kevin Rushby felt this lure and went off to discover how the pirate settlements in the Indian Ocean where the buccaneers had once created their own version of Utopia had fared since their time - would the pirates' descendents still live there?

From Rushby's unpromising beginning in modern Deptford to his journey's end in the steamy jungles of Madagascar this book introduces the reader to the usual selection of dreamers, schemers, latter-day pirates, fellow travelers, settlers and rogues that make a good travel book (and this is a most entertaining example of the genre) such a joy to read. The days of the tramp steamer and working one's passage may be long gone but Rushby manages to do the next best thing on a diverse assortment of yachts, dhows and fishing boats. From memories of slavery in Mozambique to Madagascan magic Rushby manages to convey the joyous fact that even in today's "global village" it is still possible to have an adventure. If you want to know the truth behind many pirate legends (including the origin of the Jolly Roger) then you ought to enjoy this entertaining true tale.

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