The Invisible Hook

"Peter T. Leeson deftly describes why pirates went into their trade . . . . With all the book on these colorful criminals, Leeson's is the only one to focus on the economic side of the matter. That is his great advantage."

Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance

"Peter T. Leeson's book is an engaging analysis of early modern Western piracy . . . . He forges an organized and clear work that possesses an irreverent sense of humor and endeavors to unlock the reasons behind the peculiarities of pirate organization and conduct."

American Historical Review

"Leeson presents detailed and convincing arguments for his analysis, challenging preconceptions the readers may have of pirates."

Journal of Global Analysis [full review]

“The Invisible Hook manages to take all that society has told us about pirates and turns it on its head . . . . [Leeson’s book] delivers on its promise to reveal the underlying economic forces propelling history’s most curious criminals.”

New Perspectives on Political Economy [full review]

"[E]xtremely well-researched and well-written . . . . Most authors are fortunate if their book makes one significant contribution. The Invisible Hook makes at least four important contributions."

Global Crime [full review]

"[T]hrough the application of economics, [The Invisible Hook] changes one's view on pirates as a ragtag bunch of scallywags, to understanding them as being an organized and efficient group of individuals."

Dialogue [full review]

"This refreshing perspective resolve[s] a lot of mysteries . . . about [pirates'] famous subculture . . . At the same time, the book's Freakonomics approach ("follow the money") is a reminder that viewing cultural phenomenon in terms of economics can be extremely productive."

Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor, Wired Magazine [full review]

"Leeson’s cleverly titled Invisible Hook uses the basic insights of neoclassical economics to explain numerous features of pirate society and practice."

Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"[E]ducational, thought-provoking, and fun . . . fascinating throughout. Dedicated pirate enthusiasts may find they have a much deeper appreciation for economics than they ever thought possible."

Bilgemonkey.com [full review]

"Well shiver me timbers, this surely is a wickedly good book! In fact, Peter Leeson has produced a book applying the dismal science that is both fun to read, and entertaining . . . . I recommend it without hesitation to professional academics, students, anyone interested in a clear exposition of the economic way of thinking, and every scurvy dog who is interested in pirating."

Public Choice

"[Leeson] clearly is . . . an undoubtedly excellent teacher . . . the style and tone of [The Invisible Hook] are that of an engaging lecturer who makes economics entertaining for his undergraduate students."

International Journal of Maritime History

"[V]aluable to any historian of piracy seeking a uniquely economics-based perspective on their subject."

Southern Economic Journal

"The Invisible Hook . . . brings a promising new critical approach to scholarly inquiry into piracy: economic analysis . . . . [Leeson's] prose is exuberant while still pedagogical . . . [He has a] talent for making the fundamentals of classical economics lucid, portable, and persuasive . . . . The Invisible Hook provides many pleasures and provocations."

Eighteenth-Century Studies [full review]

"The Invisible Hook . . . stands out as a novel contribution to international economics and, by extension, international relations."

Central European Journal of International and Security Issues [full review]

"The Invisible Hook is a rollicking good read—more fun than any person should be allowed to have without a parrot, a hook, and an eye patch . . . .Leeson's book is magnificent."

Freeman [full review]

"On every page Leeson's infectous love for pirates, and more importantly economics, holds the reader's attention captive . . . . I promise that upon finishing The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates . . . you . . . will emerge hoping Peter Leeson pens a sequel."

Market Forces [full review]

"The Invisible Hook is . . . an entertaining read that illuminates well a curious historical episode."

Journal of Economic Literature [full review]

"[S]urprising and engaging . . . . [Leeson's] seminars must be wildly popular."

London Review of Books [full review]

"Jauntily characterising the typical pirate ship as akin to “a Fortune 500 company”, [The Invisible Hook] reorients pirates as precursors of Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economics."

Financial Times [full review]

"There are echoes of Bernard Mandeville in [Leeson's] witticisms and and lively turns of phrase . . . . By making a provocative case in a clear and engaging fashion . . . Leeson’s book should reinvigorate debate about piracy’s golden age . . . . [T]his is a thought-provoking book which deserves a wide readership."

Business History [full review]

"Leeson's book is stimulating, provacative, and, of course, a fun read."

World Trade Review [full review]

"I encourage everyone . . . to immediately obtain a copy of Peter Leeson's The Invisible Hook . . . I guarantee that after the first few pages you won't be able to put this book down . . . . To put it bluntly, this book is a must read."

Comparative Political Studies [full review]

"[T]he . . . reader will find in The Invisible Hook both an entertaining account of piracy's so-called Golden Age and an absorbing introduction to some of the most important ideas from economics. . . [This book] is among the best popular works of economics in recent years."

Journal of Value Inquiry [full review]

"Peter T. Leeson . . . puts salty flesh on the bones of the pirates' legend in The Invisible Hook, pulling off the formidable trick of being both rigorous and cheeky . . . . Leeson's lights . . . are bright and convincing . . . .[a] jaunty gem of a book . . . . his argument assuredly does bolster the Chicago School case that the dismal science pervades every human endeavor."

Democracy [full review]

"Leave it to an economist to take our current obsession [with pirates] and peer under it in search of a new interpretation . . . . The Invisible Hook is an entertaining economic history of an era and a way of business rarely considered in such a way. Pirates were rational!"

MIT Sloan Management Review [full review]

"The Invisible Hook is an excellent book by one of the most creative young economists around, Pete Leeson."

Steven D. Levitt, Freakonomics/New York Times blog [full review]

"It’s Freakonomics meets Pirates of the Caribbean. Jack Hirshleifer meets Jack Sparrow. Fischer Black meets Blackbeard. Adam Smith meets Captain Hook . . . . Peter Leeson claims, 'A pirate ship more closely resembled a Fortune 500 company than the society of savage schoolchildren depicted in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.' And by the end of the book, he had me convinced of it."

Las Vegas Weekly [full review]

"Peter Leeson's The Invisible Hook argues that many of the founding principles of capitalist, liberal democracies are not rooted in the Glorious Revolution or the writing of the Declaration of Independence; but the incentive structures necessary to keep a group of rowdy ocean-bound outlaws working as a team of ruthless sea bandits."

Institute of Public Affairs [full review]

"One of my favorite finds, this is an enjoyable read that discusses the management style, branding, employee recruitment and retention, compensation and incentives and strategic planning of pirates and why these systems were effective."

Sports Business Journal [full review]

"[W]ell-documented and very readable . . . . covers pirates from bow to stern. In addition to some descriptions of high seas navigation, maneuvers and stealth that border on high adventure, Leeson supplies plenty of counterintuitive, even surprising, revelations about pirates . . . . And Leeson explains it all with economics . . . . Bottom line: Peter T. Leeson’s The Invisible Hook is an insightful hoot, and scores a couple of extra points for originality. Economics-minded readers who enjoy historical adventure or relish over-the-top ‘freakonomics’ should get a hearty yo-ho-ho out of this book. Not to mention a 360-degree brain twist before diving into that new Michael Crichton novel."

Seeking Alpha [full review]

"What possible connection could there be between economics and a book on piracy? A lot, it turns out. Peter Leeson explains this seemingly bizarre connection in page after page of his witty new book, The Invisible Hook."

Regulation Magazine [full review]

"Given the flurry of piracy off the Somali coast in 2009, this relatively short narrative could not be timelier. The Invisible Hook, a play on Adam Smith's famous 'invisible hand,' is an engaging, informative look at the economics of piracy and pirates . . . . Hook is a well-researched, well-written, fascinating volume that has something for almost everyone . . . Highly recommended."

Choice

"[I]n his myth-busting book, The Invisible Hook, [Peter Leeson] . . . shows how the unseen hand of economic exchange produces social cohesion even among pirates."

Scientific American [full review]

"A brisk, clever new book, “The Invisible Hook,” by Peter T. Leeson, an economist who claims to have owned a pirate skull ring as a child and to have had supply-and-demand curves tattooed on his right biceps when he was seventeen, offers a different approach. Rather than directly challenging pirates’ leftist credentials, Leeson says that their apparent espousal of liberty, equality, and fraternity derived not from idealism but from a desire for profit."

The New Yorker [full review]

"In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Jonny Depp makes for a cute actor of piracy. If such a thing be possible at the margin, Peter Leeson is a cute economist of piracy . . . . The book wittly demonstrates that economic theories and principles . . . can illuminate notable historical trends."

Canberra Times

"[A]n eye-opener . . . . The Invisible Hook is a gripping read that sheds as much light on 21st century economics . . . as it does on 17th and 18th century piracy."

Ethical Corporation Magazine [full review]

"Peter Leeson . . . has a fondness for pirates that is infectious . . . . a well-researched and entertaining book."

Spectator Business

"Piracy has not been Leeson’s only obsession. The other has been economics. When he was 17 years old he had supply and demand curves tattooed on his right bicep . . . now the professor has brought his two enthusiams together in a wonderful (and wonderfully titled) new book. The Invisible Hook is his study of the hidden economics of piracy."

The Times [full review]

"Peter T. Leeson . . . has given us an engaging twofer of a book. On the one hand we have his guided tour through the grisly business practices of maritime bandit captains . . . who preyed on Atlantic and Caribbean shipping in the golden age of piracy, between 1716 and 1726. On the other hand is Leeson's guidance to the economic underpinnings of this swashbuckling age, in effect a sprightly presentation of some rudiments of Microeconomics 101."

Barnes & Noble [full review]

"[O]ne of the finest introductory courses in economics since Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson . . . . and rock solid in its scholarly bona fides."

Nature [full review]

"[S]cholarly but accessible . . . . Peter Leeson . . . examines the hidden order behind the anarchy of pirates."

The Vancouver Sun [full review]

"Peter Leeson . . . offers a fascinating perspective into the world of Blackbeard, 'Black Bart' Roberts and' 'Calico Jack' Rackham in his highly readable book . . . . [A]n engaging portrait of life on the 'floating societies' that existed under the skull-and-crossbones."

The San Francisco Chronicle [full review]

"Delightful and instructive . . . . The Invisible Hook is both entertaining and educational."

Express Milwaukee [full review ]

"[Leeson offers] not only a thumbnail history of piracy but important insights into the economic way of thinking . . . . fascinating, entertaining, and educational."

The Orange County Register [full review]

"[I]n The Invisible Hook, Peter Leeson deftly explodes piratical myths . . . . [The Invisible Hook] offers many colourful, meticulously researched insights into the behaviour of some of history's most colourful anti-heroes, and it will appeal to anyone with even passing interests in history, politics, sociology and/or economics."

The Times Higher Education [full review]

"In The Invisible Hook . . . Peter T. Leeson digs into the dollars and cents of piracy. He urges us to see pirates as economic actors, their behavior shaped by incentives, just like the rest of us . . . . When Leeson is done guiding you through the pirate world, life on a rogue ship starts to look less like a Carnival cruise with cutlasses and cannons and more like an ongoing condo association meeting at sea . . . . Peter Leeson’s economical actors have an appeal all their own."

Reason Magazine [full review]

"[Leeson's] engaging account is fun to read and full of humor, qualities not often associated with an explanation of economic theory . . . . This reviewer speculates that if more economic texts were written like this one, there would be a glut of economics majors to compensate for the shortage of pirates roaming the Atlantic."

ForeWord Magazine [full review]

"Peter T. Leeson has done his part to dispel the pirate myths by using economic theory to explain pirate behavior and organization in his exemplary new book . . . . Mr. Leeson has produced a fresh perspective on an old topic . . . "The Invisible Hook" is quick-paced but thought-provoking. Based on this work, the reader should look forward to more books by the author."

The Washington Times [full review]

"Leeson says history cannot explain all the piratical paradoxes. Only economics can disentangle the different strands."

The Age

"Leeson's book is . . . entertaining, instructive, and inspiring . . ."

Trend [full review]

"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 [full review]

"Peter Leeson's book is very intriguing--and wickedly clever."

Wonders & Marvels

"[A] jolly good read . . . . delightful and instructive . . . . "The Invisible Hook" is entertaining and educational, and it's certainly timely . . ."

The Tampa Tribune [full review]

"[A]n engaging and thorough portrait of high seas banditry that goes beyond the pop-culture stereotypes . . ."

Mother Jones [full review]

"Economist Leeson leads readers though a surprisingly entertaining crash course in economics in this study of high seas piracy at the turn of the 18th century . . . . Illustrated with salty tales of pirates both famous and infamous, the book rarely bogs down even when explaining intricate economic concepts, making it a great introduction to both pirate history and economic theory."

Publishers Weekly [full review]

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