This book, first published in 1897, examines two important factors in the growth of Liverpool as a major port during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries: privateering and the slave trade. It contains primary source material including extracts from letters and newspaper reports, and discusses practicalities, costs and profits.

This book, first published in 1897, examines two important factors in the growth of Liverpool as a major port: privateering and the slave trade. It incorporates a large amount of primary source material, including extracts from letters and newspaper reports. Privateeering developed as Britain became a global maritime power through merchant shipping and exploration, privateers being ships and individuals authorised by the government through Letters of Marque to attack and capture foreign ships for profit. Williams recounts the exploits of several notorious privateers sailing from Liverpool, and describes how the industry functioned and flourished during the French revolution, the Seven Years' War and the American wars. He provides much practical detail, including how best to capture ships while causing them minimal damage. The second part of his book is still regarded as a classic history of the Liverpool slave trade, and clearly reveals the author's anti-imperialist views.