Over the next three decades his exploits in the Caribbean in the service of the English became legendary.

His daring attacks on the mighty Spanish Empire on land and sea changed the fates of kings and queens, and his victories helped shape the destiny of this newly discovered part of the world.

Morgan gathered together disaffected English and European sailors and soldiers, hard-bitten adventurers, runaway slaves, cut-throats and sociopaths, and turned them into the most feared army in the Western Hemisphere.

Sailing out from the English stronghold of Port Royal, Jamaica, 'the wickedest city in the New World,' Morgan and his men terrorised Spanish merchant ships and devastated the cities where riches in silver, gold and gems lay waiting to be sent to the King of Spain.

His last raid, a daring assault on the fabled city of Panama, helped break Spain's solitary hold on the New World forever.

The story of these real-life pirates of the Caribbean is awash with bloody battles, political intrigues and a cast of characters more bizarre and memorable than in a Hollywood swashbuckler.

Only an apocalyptic natural disaster could stop them in their tracks ...

Morgan was a man of astounding contradictiction. He was brave in the extreme, devastatingly charming and a man of infinite compassion. But he was also capable of betrayal on a grand scale.

Talty digs deep into the archives for this tantalising tale of wanton greed and skillful skulduggery. History at its most exciting!

(Pocket, paperback, £8.99)