Crampton Rock is a peaceful fishing village on a remote island, accessible only at low tide. But Stanley has awoken the ghostly world of long dead and buried pirates - and they are heading to meet him ... Originally published under the title 'The Silver Casket'.

Fascinating chronicle of the bands of plundering sea rovers who roamed the Caribbean and coastlines of Central America in the 17th century. Includes exploits of the infamous Henry Morgan and his burning of Panama City.

Reproduction of the original.

"There’s pirates in the West Indies. Cannibals. They cook you alive," says Mr. Spencer to his son. These words will come to haunt 17-year-old John as he embarks on his first voyage to foreign lands. Carrying cargo destined for Jamaica, John and his crew of the Dragon set off for waters few of them have sailed before. So when they come upon a lifeboat adrift at sea, some are wary of the sailor aboard. Something about his story doesn’t quite make sense. Still, John respects the stranger’s awe-inspiring seamanship. With Horn on deck, he feels the Dragon is in the best of hands. But is Horn to be trusted? The answer becomes muddled as the Dragon encounters a very real — and very dangerous — pirate ship. Now John starts to believe his father’s warnings, especially after he becomes stranded on an island reputed to have buried treasure. A place teeming with buccaneers!

Captain Jack Sparrow would shiver his timbers when faced with Sir Henry Morgan and his savage band of buccaneers. Sacking Porto Bellow, burning Panama, and even taking on the Spanish armada, Morgan stopped at nothing to acquire his precious lucre in the years 1666 to 1672. This vivid account, as told by one of Morgan's own men and illustrated with engravings from the period, puts the lie to the idea of the "romantic swashbuckler." This is a brutal, unforgiving, and essential slice of seafaring history. Thought to be of Dutch origin, JOHN ESQUEMELING (1645-1707) was a merchant clerk for the French West India Company before impoverished circumstances forced him to join "the wicked order of pirates" in 1666.