Hanna is the author of the new book, Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire (2015, University of North Carolina Press). In his book, he sheds a fresh light on pirates, traditionally depicted as fearless adventurers on the high seas. He examines the crucial role that pirates played on land by contributing to the commercial and economic development of port towns in early America and the British Empire. Hanna’s earlier work, The Pirate’s Nest: The Impact of Piracy on Newport and Charles Town, 1670-1740, challenged prevailing interpretations of piracy and also harnessed the phenomenon of piracy to illuminate the history of early America in the Atlantic world.