After several pirate history books spent with the author wringing their hands over the immorality of pirates, this was a breath of fresh air. Rediker says yes, they were violent - but no more so than the navy. They were not scholars, but that doesn't mean they stumbled blindly into democracy with no idea of what they were doing or why. Sexism was abundant, but it makes more logical sense that Anne Bonney and Mary Read had won respect for themselves than that they'd somehow hidden their identities as women from their crews while being known as women by their enemies. Pirates were, Rediker argues, as human as anyone else, and reacting to their circumstances just as anyone else would.