PIRATES OF BARBARY is a record of the European renegades and Islamic sea-rovers who terrorised the Mediterranean throughout the seventeenth century. From the coast of Southern Europe to Morocco and the Ottoman states of Algiers, Christian and Muslim seafarers met in bustling ports to battle, swap religions and trade goods and slaves - raiding as far as Ireland and Iceland in search of their human currency. Studying the culture and practices of these men Adrian Tinniswood recreates the world of the corsairs. He uncovers a clash of civilisations and creates a kaleidoscopic image of the time of these wild and exotic people - and how it was to sacrifice everything for a violent, uncertain and alien life, which set you apart from the rest of mankind.