Origin stories -- The uses of terror -- The rise of the Mughals -- Hostis Humani Generis -- Two kinds of treasure -- Spanish expedition shipping -- The universe conquerer -- Holding patterns -- The drunken boatswain -- The Fancy -- The pirate verses -- Does Sir Josiah sell or buy? -- West wind drift -- The Ganj-i-Sawai -- The Amity returns -- She fears not who follows her -- The princess -- The Fath Mahmamadi -- Exceeding treasure -- The counter narrative -- Vengeance -- A company at war -- The getaway -- Manifest rebellion -- Supposition is not proof -- The saltwater faujdar -- Homecomings -- A nation of pirates -- The ghost trial -- What is consent? -- Finis -- Epilogue: Libertalia

"How did a single manhunt spark the modern era of multinational capitalism? Henry Avery was the seventeenth century's most notorious pirate. The press published wildly popular--and wildly inaccurate--reports of his nefarious adventures. The British government offered enormous bounties for his capture, alive or (preferably) dead. But Steven Johnson argues that Avery's most lasting legacy was his inadvertent triggering of a new model for the global economy. Enemy of All Mankind focuses on one key event--the attack of an Indian treasure ship by Avery and his crew--and its surprising repercussions across time and space. Johnson uses the extraordinary story of Henry Avery and his crimes to explore the emergence of the modern global marketplace: a densely interconnected planet ruled by nations and corporations. Like the bestselling How We Got To Now and The Ghost Map, Enemy of All Mankind crosses disciplinary boundaries to recount its history: the chemistry behind the invention of gunpowder; the innovations in navigation that enabled the age of exploration; the cultural history of pirates; the biographical history of Avery and his crew; the rise of the Moghul dynasty; and the commercial ambition of the East India Company. In this compelling work of history and ideas, Johnson deftly traces the path from a single struck match to a global conflagration"--