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  • The Invisible Hook

  • The Hidden Economics of Pirates
  • Written by: Peter T. Leeson
  • Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
  • Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)

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The Invisible Hook

Written by: Peter T. Leeson
Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
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Publisher's Summary

Pack your cutlass and blunderbuss - it's time to go a-pirating! The Invisible Hook takes readers inside the wily world of late 17th- and early 18th-century pirates. With swashbuckling irreverence and devilish wit, Peter Leeson uncovers the hidden economics behind pirates' notorious, entertaining, and sometimes downright shocking behavior.

Why did pirates fly flags of Skull & Bones? Why did they create a "pirate code"? Were pirates really ferocious madmen? And what made them so successful? The Invisible Hook uses economics to examine these and other infamous aspects of piracy. Leeson argues that the pirate customs we know and love resulted from pirates responding rationally to prevailing economic conditions in the pursuit of profits.

The Invisible Hook looks at legendary pirate captains like Blackbeard, Black Bart Roberts, and Calico Jack Rackam, and shows how pirates' search for plunder led them to pioneer remarkable and forward-thinking practices. Pirates understood the advantages of constitutional democracy - a model they adopted more than 50 years before the United States did so. Pirates also initiated an early system of workers' compensation, regulated drinking and smoking, and in some cases practiced racial tolerance and equality. Leeson contends that pirates exemplified the virtues of vice - their self-seeking interests generated socially desirable effects and their greedy criminality secured social order. Pirates proved that anarchy could be organized.

Revealing the democratic and economic forces propelling history's most colorful criminals, The Invisible Hook establishes pirates' trailblazing relevance to the contemporary world.

©2009 Peter T. Leeson (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

"Leeson hangs the meat of his pirate tale on a sturdy skeleton of economics.... The Invisible Hook is a delightful read, thanks to Leeson's engaging writing. He reduces a veritable mountain of facts and history into an entertainingly educational experience." (Barron's)

"A brisk, clever new book." (The New Yorker)

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As expected from Leeson...

How is this for cool? You open up the book or listen to the audio and encounter the dedication reading, "Ania, I love you; will you marry me?" Spoiler. She said yes.

I love the book's opening line, "Charybdis herself must have spat them into the sea." That is followed by a wonderful first paragraph that had me hooked.

Leeson teaches at the economics department at George Mason University. He is very smart and usually very interesting. And this book is very, very interesting. Leeson explains why building a brand was as important for pirates as it is for today's shoe or tech companies. He explains why the Skull & Bones flag was very important, how pirates managed to govern themselves by using a checks and balances system long before Maddison adopted the idea for the US Constitution. The Invisible Hook depends on sound economic theory to explain these and many other factors. If you are interested in pirates or interested in economic theory this book is for you. The performance is fine. The narrative works well and moves along. Five stars.

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