By the sixteenth century, Spain had acquired the lion's share of territories in the New World, with the rest of Europe eager to share in the flow of wealth from the newfound mines. Attempts at peaceful trade were rebuffed by Spanish colonial officials, and by 1540, piracy in the Caribbean had become a thriving trade. Freebooters seeking plunder cast their gaze westward, to the less-fortified Pacific coast of the continent. This captivating study traces the exploits of the Elizabethan pirates (most notably, Sir Francis Drake and the crew of the Golden Hind), Dutch raiders, mercenary buccaneers (the infamous Captain Morgan among them), and the incursions of English privateers and smugglers.