Ship of Death is a novel based on the real life horrors that occurred on British prison ships anchored in New York Harbor during the American Revolution. It is believed that more men died as prisoners on the Old Jersey (Ship of Death) than died in battle the entire war. Most of the prisoners were not active servicemen under the command of George Washington but privateers, pirates authorized by the Continental Congress to disrupt and wreak havoc on British commerce along the east coast of the new nation. Washington had no interest in exchanging British prisoners for these men because they would not fight on the battlefield. They were at the mercy of the British. Many would die a slow and agonizing death. Forced into privateering in order to support his family, Richard Drury is a reluctant participant in the lucrative but very dangerous profession. Follow him as he sails the Atlantic searching for booty, knowing the threat of captivity is constant and the risk of being subjected to the most deplorable conditions and inhuman cruelty at the hands of British captors that sometimes goes beyond belief.