Providing a timely and never-before-seen perspective on the ever-increasing menace of Somali pirates, this account shows how the cargo ship and oil tanker hijackings and ransoms in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean have turned one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into one of the most dangerous. By way of one-on-one interviews with pirates, their associates, their victims, and those who police them, the book reveals piracy’s origins, tactics, and increasing links to terrorists in Somalia, East Africa, and the Middle East, including Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. These sources point to a scenario in which Somali pirates might not just be out for themselves; they may be a part of a larger, more sinister infrastructure of global financiers and Islamic extremists that—if not dealt with soon—could greatly destabilize the region and perhaps threaten United States national security.

Peter Eichstaedt is a veteran journalist, the former a senior editor for Uganda Radio Network, and the author of First Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army and If You Poison Us: Uranium and Native Americans. He lives in Denver, Colorado.