The King of Pirates is an account of the famous enterprises of Captain Avery in two letters from himself; one during his Stay at Madagascar, and one since his Escape from thence. Henry Avery was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the mid-1690s. Dubbed "The Arch Pirate" and "The King of Pirates" by contemporaries, Avery was the most notorious pirate of his time; he earned his infamy by becoming one of the few major pirate captains to retire with his loot without being arrested or killed in battle.