ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book illustrates how the escalation of maritime piratical activity in the late twentieth century created a distinct 'revival' by considering the modern historical context of piracy, in particular the late nineteenth century. The spectrum of publications pertaining to modern piracy is diverse. Maritime piracy is a phenomenon that manifests differently in different maritime spaces due to specific regional causative factors at a particular period in time. Central to exploring the evolution of contemporary counter-piracy efforts is analysing statistical data and flows to highlight successes and failures alongside various regional and global manifestations and trends. While reports on piracy escalated during the late 1970s and early 1980s, there exist only a limited number of statistical resources to gauge the level of piratical activity during this period.
