Translated from the French, this book brings first person narratives and interviews with political and economic analysis to contextualize the reality and the public perception of people publicized as pirates (who sometimes are pirates, and sometimes are not), as well as how they are treated when taken into custody, usually far from their homes. Written from an anarchist perspective, this is a start view of what modern-day colonialism looks like, and what fighting it looks like too. it delineates the various actors–state, corporate, historical, cultural, environmental, and media–that have backed Somalis into a corner from which some of them come out swinging, and yet maintain their kindness and dignity in the midst of it all.