Pirates: Fact and Fiction traces the history of piracy from the Spanish Main, where Drake and the Elizabethan sea dogs plundered vast quantities of treasure from Spanish galleons returning to the Old World, to the China Seas where, in the early nineteenth century, the female pirate Ching Yih Saou commanded a fleet of over 800 junks. It examines the realities of pirate life through everyday items that would have been used by the pirates themselves–weapons, navigational instruments, charts–and, by contrasting these with fictional portrayals and stereotypes, sets out to dispel some of the myths surrounding this perennially fascinating subject.

Probably the most highly motivated and ruthless combatant to take the field in World War 2, the Waffen-SS soldier was the cutting edge of Germany's military might. Aggressive in attack, dogged in defence, his units generally suffered higher casualties than the regular army formations. The apple of the Führer's eye, he was the first to receive the best available equipment and was expected to produce results to match. From the green fields of France to the freezing steppes of Russia and finally to the shattered streets of Berlin this title details the development of the weapons, equipment and tactics of one of history's most formidable soldiers.