This book describes the relationship between Northern Europeans and the regencies of the Ottoman Empire in North Africa (what were known as the Barbary States) during the early modern period. For the Northern Europeans, who saw their profitable foreign trade routes to Southern Europe threatened by Moslem corsairs, the problem manifested itself as a challenge at both a humanitarian and an economic level. For centuries, Europeans instituted measures directed at both levels in an attempt to provide security for the ships as well as their crews. The history of these attempts is presented with a focus on their objectives and their effects.