Angus Konstam (; born 2 January 1960) is a Scottish writer of popular history. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland and raised on the Orkney Islands, he has written more than a hundred books on maritime history, naval history, historical atlases, with a special focus on the history of piracy. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and in 2025 he was inducted into the International Pirate Hall of Fame, in recognition of his historical work on the subject.
Early life Although born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he was raised in the Orkney Islands. In 1978, after leaving Kirkwall Grammar School at the age of 18 he left to join the Royal Navy. After initial officer training at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and undergoing further naval training at sea, he went on to study history at Aberdeen University. During this time he was attached to the Aberdeen University Royal Naval Unit, and its tender, HMS Thornham. After receiving an MA degree, he returned to active service with the Royal Navy, during which time he visited many places that would later be written about in his books, including the Caribbean. He also gained useful knowledge of military service, customs, seamanship and navigation during this time. After leaving the service in 1983 he studied for a master's degree at the University of St Andrews. During this time he explored the new field of maritime archaeology and wrote his thesis on early naval artillery. Two decades later this formed the basis for Sovereigns of the Sea, his history of Renaissance warships.
Career
United Kingdom He left the navy in 1983, and the following year he began a Master of Letters in Maritime Studies at the University of St Andrews, a course which combined history with maritime archaeology. After completing his master's thesis on Renaissance Naval Artillery, he found a job in 1985 as a supervisor on an excavation in the River Thames near the Tower of London, paid for by the Royal Armouries.
While he was working in the Royal Armouries, the Tower and the Kremlin decided to swap exhibits – a "Treasures of the Tower" being shown in Moscow while "Treasures of the Kremlin" came to London. The curators of both museums were encouraged to exchange information, and to examine each other's collections. This ended up with Konstam studying the 18th-century Russian military. A mutual colleague introduced him to a historian working for Osprey Publishing, who wanted someone to write a book about Peter the Great's Army. The result was two small (15,000-word) books which first appeared in 1993 – the first easily accessible account of the foundation of the Russian army to appear in English.
United States Konstam moved to Key West, Florida in 1995 and became the chief curator of the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum. Mel Fisher was a treasure hunter who found the wreck of the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha off the Florida Keys. One of Konstam's jobs during this time was to create traveling exhibits which toured the United States. During the research for a pirate exhibition, he became increasingly interested in the subject of 18th-century piracy.
He spent six years in Key West and wrote several more books, there, including The History of Pirates (2002). As he gained more information through his research, he produced Piracy: The Complete History (2008), and then, to reach a wider audience, The World Atlas of Pirates (2009). In 2019 he published The Pirate World, an adaptation of his 2009 work for the same publisher. His The Pirate Menace is his most recent pirate history, concentrating on the activities of the pirates of Nassau during the early 18th century. Konstam also published a biography of the pirate Blackbeard.
Present In early 2001 he returned to the United Kingdom, and after living in London and then Edinburgh, he returned to Orkney in 2019. He now resides in Herston in South Ronaldsay.
Konstam continues to research and write about naval and maritime history. Since 2001 he has written extensively on a number of maritime subjects. He currently has over 120 books in print.
In 2022, Konstam became a fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FrHistS). He served a three-year term as the chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland and has also served on the board of Publishing Scotland, as well as on other heritage-related committees.
He has also been a "talking head" on many cable TV and radio shows, and makes frequent appearances at book festivals and history events. In May 2025, Konstam was inducted into the International Pirate Hall of Fame, in recognition of his historical work on the subject. His book The Pirate Menace was cited as a major contribution to pirate history. Konstam's next book though, Lords of the Salt Road, to be published in June 2026, is on a completely different theme - a history of the Norse Earls of Orkney, set in the Viking age.
Complete list of works
General The Pirate Menace: Uncovering the Golden Age of Piracy Osprey Publishing 2024 The Convoy: HG-76: Taking the Fight to Hitler's U-Boats Osprey Publishing 2023 100 Greatest Battles Osprey Publishing 2023 Mutiny on the Spanish Main: HMS Hermione and the Royal Navy's revenge Osprey Publishing 2020 . Hunt the Bismarck: The pursuit of Germany's most famous battleship Osprey Publishing 2019 . The Pirate World Osprey Publishing 2019 . Viking Warrior: Operations Manual Haynes Publishing 2018 . Big Guns: Artillery on the Battlefield Casemate Publishers 2017 . Jutland 1916: Twelve hours to win the war Aurum Press 2016 . Pirates: Predators of the Seas Skyhorse Publishing 2016 , with Roger Kean. Battleship Bismarck, 1936-41:Owner's Workshop Manual Haynes Publishing 2015 . Bannockburn: Scotland's greatest battle for Independence Aurum Press 2014 . Naval Miscellany Osprey Publishing 2010 . The World Atlas of Pirates The Lyons Press 2010 . The Battle of North Cape: The death-ride of the Scharnhorst, 1943 Pen & Sword Maritime 2009 . There Was a Soldier: First-Hand Accounts of the Scottish Soldier from 1707 to the Present Day Hachette Scotland 2009 . Piracy: The Complete History Osprey Publishing 2008 . Sovereigns of the Sea: The Quest to Build the Perfect Renaissance Battleship John Wiley & Sons 2008 . Cities of the Renaissance World Compendium Publishing 2008 , with Michael Swift. 100 Greatest Battles Osprey Publishing 2023 Mutiny on the Spanish Main: HMS Hermione and the Royal Navy's revenge Osprey Publishing 2020 . Hunt the Bismarck: The pursuit of Germany's most famous battleship Osprey Publishing 2019 . The Pirate World Osprey Publishing 2019 . Viking Warrior: Operations Manual Haynes Publishing 2018 . Big Guns: Artillery on the Battlefield Casemate Publishers 2017 . Jutland 1916: Twelve hours to win the war Aurum Press 2016 . Pirates: Predators of the Seas Skyhorse Publishing 2016 , with Roger Kean. Battleship Bismarck, 1936-41:Owner's Workshop Manual Haynes Publishing 2015 . Bannockburn: Scotland's greatest battle for Independence Aurum Press 2014 . Naval Miscellany Osprey Publishing 2010 . The World Atlas of Pirates The Lyons Press 2010 . The Battle of North Cape: The death-ride of the Scharnhorst, 1943 Pen & Sword Maritime 2009 . There Was a Soldier: First-Hand Accounts of the Scottish Soldier from 1707 to the Present Day Hachette Scotland 2009 . Piracy: The Complete History Osprey Publishing 2008 . Sovereigns of the Sea: The Quest to Build the Perfect Renaissance Battleship John Wiley & Sons 2008 . Cities of the Renaissance World Compendium Publishing 2008 , with Michael Swift. Salerno 1943: The Allied invasion of Italy Pen & Sword Military 2007 . Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate John Wiley & Sons 2006 . Ghost Ships: Tales of Abandoned, Doomed and Haunted Vessels Greenwich Editions 2005 0. Civil War Ghost Stories Thunder Bay Press 2005 . PT Boat Squadrons: US Navy Torpedo Boats Ian Allen 2005 (Spearhead Series) . The Pocket Book of Civil War Battle Sites Chartwell books 2004 The Pocket Book of Civil War Weapons Chartwell Books 2004 7th U-Boat Flotilla: Dönitz's Atlantic Wolves Ian Allen 2003 (Spearhead Series) , with Jak P. Mallmann Showell. Hunt the Bismarck Naval Institute Press 2003 . The Civil War: A Visual Encyclopedia PRC Publishing 2001 (General Editor). Warships: From the Galley to the Present Day PRC Publishing 2001 , with Leo Marriott and Nick Grant.
Historical Atlas series Historical Atlas of the Renaissance Checkmark Books 2004 , as Robert Ritchie Historical Atlas of the Napoleonic Era The Lyons Press 2003 . Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece Checkmark Books 2003 . Historical Atlas of the Viking World Thalamus Publishing 2002 . Historical Atlas of the Crusades Thalamus Publishing 2002 . Historical Atlas of the Celtic World Checkmark Books 2001 . Historical Atlas of Exploration Checkmark Books 2000 . Atlas of Medieval Europe Checkmark Books 2000 . The History of Shipwrecks Lyons Press 1999 . The History of Pirates Lyons Press 1999 .
Osprey Publishing titles ABDA Striking Force 1942; The joint Allied command lost at Java Sea [Fleet title 19] Osprey Publishing 2026 Königgrätz 1866: The Creation of Modern Germany [Campaign title 429] Osprey Publishing 2026 Warships at Dunkirk 1940 [New Vanguard title 349] Osprey Publishing 2026 Royal Navy Force H: Britain's strike force at Gibralrar [Fleet title 14] Osprey Publishing 2025 Royal Navy Monitors of World War II: Britain's battleship-calibre gunboats [New Vanguard title 343] Osprey Publishing 2025 Second Sirte 1942: The Desperate Battle to Relieve Malta [Campaign title 417] Osprey Publishing 2025 Super-Battleships of World War I: the lost battleships of the Washington Treaty [New Vanguard title 338] Osprey Publishing 2025 Convoy PQ-17 1942: Disaster in the Arctic [Campaign title 414] Osprey Publishing 2025 Royal Navy Grand Fleet 1914-18: Britain's Last Supreme Naval Fleet [Fleet title 10] Osprey Publishing 2025 Borneo 1945: The Last Major Campaign in the South-West Pacific [Campaign title 406] Osprey Publishing 2024 Sumatra 1944-45: The British Pacific Fleet's oil campaign in the Dutch East Indies [Air Campaign title 49] Osprey Publishing 2024 British Lend-Lease Warships 1940-45: the Royal Navy's American-built destroyers and frigates [New Vanguard title 330] Osprey Publishing 2024 Warships in the War of the Pacific 1879-83: South America's ironclad naval campaign [New Vanguard title 328] Osprey Publishing 2024 Royal Navy Home Fleet 1939-41: The last line of defence at Scapa Flow [Fleet title 5] Osprey Publishing 2024 Cape Matapan 1941: Cunningham's Mediterranean Triumph [Campaign title 397] Osprey Publishing 2023 Operation Pedestal 1942: The Battle for Malta's Lifeline [Campaign title 394] Osprey Publishing 2023 German High Seas Fleet 1914-18: The Kaiser's challenge to the Royal Navy [Fleet title 2] Osprey Publishing 2023 British Frigates and Escort Destroyers 1939-45 [New Vanguard title 319] Osprey Publishing 2023 British Aircraft Carriers 1945-2010 [New Vanguard Title 317] Osprey Publishing 2023 Naval Battle of Crete 1941: The Royal Navy at Breaking Point [Campaign title 388] British/Commonwealth Cruiser vs Italian Cruiser 1940-43 [Duel title 123] Osprey Publishing 2022 Barents Sea 1942: The Battle for Russia's Arctic Lifeline [Campaign title 376] Osprey Publishing 2022 Warships in the Baltic Campaigns 1918-20 [New Vanguard title 305] Osprey Publishing 2022 British Gunboats of Victoria's Empire [New Vanguard title 304] Osprey Publishing 2022 Warships in the Spanish Civil War [New Vanguard title 300] Osprey Publishing 2021 . Big Guns in the Atlantic: Germany's battleships and cruisers raid the convoys, 1939-41 [Raid title 55] Osprey Publishing 2021 . Sinking Force Z 1941: The day the Imperial Japanese Navy killed the battleship [Air Campaign title 20] Osprey Publishing 2021 . North Cape 1943: The Sinking of the Scharnhorst [Campaign title 356] Osprey Publishing 2020 .