It’s pub day for my new book.

In normal times I would be sitting in an airport somewhere, posting a list of upcoming bookstore events here. But these are obviously not normal times.

And yet in many ways, I feel genuinely fortunate, because book publishing (and book reading) has continued through the COVID-19 crisis even if traditional book tours have not. And so I’m very happy to announce that my twelfth book is officially on sale today: Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt.

Enemy tells the story of the 17th-century pirate Henry Every, for a time the most notorious criminal on the planet, who ends up triggering a global crisis involving the East India Company, the Mughal Empire in India, the British government, and the nascent media ecosystem in London. For me, it’s a return to the style of my book The Ghost Map — a page-turner that also tries to convey a broader understanding about how the systems of the modern world came into being. (Only this one has pirates instead of intestinal disease at the center of its story!)

We’re off to an encouraging start in terms of praise for the book. USA Today called it “the perfect book to cozy up with during the pandemic.” And today’s New York Times features a lovely review of the book:

“A kaleidoscopic rumination on the ways in which a single event, and the actions of a handful of men with no obvious access to the levers of state power, can change the course of history. . . . Steven Johnson treats us to fascinating digressions on the origins of terrorism, celebrity and the tabloid media; the tricky physics of cannon manufacture; and the miserable living conditions of the average 17th-century seaman… A remarkable story… populated with concepts and consequences that resonate across the centuries.”

I should have news about some virtual events that we are working on soon, but in the meantime, I hope you'll give Enemy a read...

Steven