This set is a must for any serious student of Anglo-American Piracy in the "golden age." Most of the contents, largely in the form of facsimile reproductions of pamphlets and similar materials from the period (1660-1730), are available from other publications -- but not easily available, being very, very widely dispersed. In addition, a number of the items included, such as the 1683 pamphlet Sir Henry Morgan's Voyage to Panama, 1670, and The Tryals of Captain John Rackam and Other Pirates (of which there are only a couple of extant copies), have pretty much not been available to anyone unable or unwilling to visit the Public Record Office.
The trials, and an excellent selection of contemporary newspaper accounts, are an especially valuable part of this work. These types of sources account for much of the actual detail we have about piracy in this period -- beyond the standard (and occassionally untrustworthy) works of Exquemelin and Johnson, and a handful of travel narratives. These items have never before been collected together in a single publication, and this is the editor's real contribution -- and it is an important one.
The set's one serious drawback is, of course, its price. None of the items included are protected by copyright and, although a fair amount of legwork clearly went into compiling the materials, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the publisher is really only interested in institutional sales.
That is a pity. However, perhaps there will be a paperback version. If so, some thought should be given to including at least some of the more important narratives, such as Snelgrave's New Account and Alexander Hamilton's East Indies.
In any event, the purchase was certainly worthwhile, although painful nevertheless.
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