About the author

Robert Jacob

<p>With a lifelong passion for history, Robert Jacob has been heavily involved in living history interpretation and reenacting for over 40 years and more recently was a guest on the History Channel. Those groups covered a wide range of time periods which include numerous French and Indian War and Revolutionary War reenactment groups, Western Gun Fighter groups, regularly attending Mountain Man Rendezvous and Renaissance Fairs. &#160;During the past 12 years he has focused on the golden age of piracy with a main emphasis on the events of Blackbeard. &#160;</p><p>Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Robert graduated from Duquesne University with a Batchelor&#8217;s Degree in education in 1978. &#160;He taught in the West Point public school district, West Point, VA for five years while completing his Master&#8217;s Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1983.</p><p>In 1982, Robert entered the United States Marine Corps reserve and augmented to active duty in 1983. &#160;During his service, he became a military occupational specialty instructor and earned the designation of Master Training Specialist. &#160;Later in his career, he became the Commanding Officer of the Marine Detachment at the same school where he had earlier instructed. &#160;He achieved the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 5 and retired after 31 years of service in 2013.</p><p><br/> While researching information on the golden age of piracy, Robert soon realized that most of the publications on the subject were contradictory and even incorrect. &#160;This spurred him on to write his current publication, A Pirate&#8217;s Life in the Golden Age of Piracy.</p>