Explore the real-world places that appear in Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Mocha, Yemen, Surat, Gujarat, India, Site of the Ganj-i-Sawai Attack, East India House, London, Nassau, Bahamas and 8 more.
Red Sea port — staging point for Every's pirate fleet
Off the coast of Mocha in 1695, Henry Every and his consortium of pirate ships assembled to intercept the Mughal fleet returning from the annual hajj pilgrimage. The pirates lurked in these waters specifically because they knew the treasure-laden Mughal convoy would pass through, making it the strategic starting point of the criminal operation that would shock the world. Every's crew, gathered from multiple mutinied vessels, coordinated their audacious plan here in the Red Sea approaches.
Mocha was one of the most important port cities in the early modern world, famous as the primary export hub for Yemeni coffee and a crucial waypoint on the Red Sea trade route between India and the Ottoman Empire. By the 17th century it was a cosmopolitan trading hub visited by English, Dutch, and Indian merchants.
Modern Mocha (Al Mukha) is a small Yemeni city that has suffered significantly during the ongoing Yemeni civil war. Much of its historic architecture has deteriorated, though it lends its name globally to mocha-flavored coffee. It is not safely visitable as of recent years.
Mughal port city — home of the Ganj-i-Sawai and Mughal fury
Surat was the home port of the Ganj-i-Sawai, the massive Mughal treasure ship that Every attacked and plundered in September 1695. When news of the atrocity — the theft of an enormous fortune and the brutal assault on passengers including women connected to Emperor Aurangzeb's court — reached Surat, the city erupted in outrage. Aurangzeb's officials imprisoned the East India Company's representatives in Surat, directly threatening the Company's entire commercial presence in India and triggering the diplomatic and legal crisis that forms the book's central argument.
Surat was the most important port in the Mughal Empire and the primary gateway for Indian Ocean trade from the 16th through the 17th centuries. It was also the site of the English East India Company's first trading factory in India, established in 1613. The city's merchant class was extraordinarily wealthy and cosmopolitan.
Surat is now one of India's fastest-growing cities, a major center of the diamond polishing and textile industries with a population exceeding seven million. The old Dutch and English trading factories have largely disappeared, though some Mughal-era structures survive in the old city.
Arabian Sea, off the coast of India — scene of the great piracy
In September 1695, Henry Every's ship the Fancy and allied pirate vessels intercepted the Ganj-i-Sawai — meaning 'Exceeding Treasure' — in the Arabian Sea after a fierce battle. The Ganj-i-Sawai was the largest ship in the Mughal fleet, carrying hundreds of pilgrims returning from Mecca along with an enormous treasure estimated at hundreds of thousands of pounds. Johnson describes the attack in harrowing detail: a prolonged naval battle, the brutal treatment of passengers, and the seizure of a cargo that made Every's crew among the wealthiest criminals in history.
The Arabian Sea has been a highway for Indian Ocean trade for millennia, connecting the Indian subcontinent to Arabia, East Africa, and beyond. By the 17th century it was heavily trafficked by Mughal, Portuguese, Dutch, and English vessels, making it both commercially vital and vulnerable to piracy.
The open waters of the Arabian Sea between India and the Arabian Peninsula remain one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Modern piracy has also plagued these waters in the 21st century, particularly near Somalia, giving the site of Every's crime an eerie contemporary resonance.
Leadenhall Street, City of London — headquarters of the East India Company
The East India Company's London headquarters was the nerve center of the corporate and political crisis unleashed by Every's attack. Company directors desperately negotiated with the Mughal government, pleaded with the Crown for naval protection, and ultimately lobbied for Every's capture to restore their trading rights in India. Johnson uses the Company's panicked response to the piracy to trace the birth of multinational corporate power — the EIC's need to govern, police, and project force across oceans anticipating the modern global economy.
The East India Company was founded by royal charter in 1600 and became one of history's most powerful corporations, eventually governing much of the Indian subcontinent. Its Leadenhall Street headquarters was rebuilt several times, becoming an imposing neoclassical structure by the 18th century. The Company was dissolved in 1874 following the 1857 Indian Rebellion.
The original East India House no longer stands; the site is now occupied by the Lloyds of London building and surrounding financial district structures. A small commemorative plaque marks the location in the heart of the City of London's insurance and finance district.
Caribbean pirate haven — Every's refuge and base of operations
Nassau and the broader Caribbean were the operational heartland of the pirate world that produced Henry Every. Many of his crew members dispersed to the Caribbean after the Ganj-i-Sawai attack, attempting to spend their shares of the enormous plunder. Johnson traces the networks of piracy that connected the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with Nassau functioning as a hub from which pirates like Every's associates could fence goods, recruit new crew, and evade British justice.
Nassau became the de facto capital of the 'Pirate Republic' in the early 18th century, with an estimated 1,000 pirates using it as a base at its peak. Even in Every's time in the 1690s, the Bahamas were loosely governed and easily exploited by pirates and smugglers operating outside British law.
Nassau is now the capital of the Bahamas and a major Caribbean tourist destination, famous for its resorts, cruise ship terminals, and colonial-era architecture. The city embraces its piratical history through museums and heritage sites.
Visit: Pirates of Nassau Museum (museum)
Central Criminal Court — site of the landmark piracy trials
The Old Bailey was the scene of what Johnson calls the trial of the seventeenth century. In 1696, six of Every's crew members were prosecuted for the Ganj-i-Sawai attack in a landmark case that established piracy as a crime against all mankind — hostes humani generis — under international law. The first trial resulted in acquittal, stunning the government, and the men were immediately retried and convicted. Johnson uses these trials to show how the legal framework of global trade and international law was being forged in real time under pressure from commercial necessity.
The Old Bailey has been London's central criminal court since the 16th century, adjacent to the old Newgate Prison. Some of history's most famous trials took place here, including those of Oscar Wilde and the Yorkshire Ripper. The current baroque building dates from 1907.
The Central Criminal Court, still known as the Old Bailey, remains one of England's most active criminal courts. The public can observe trials from the gallery on weekdays when court is in session, and the building's famous gilded Lady Justice statue is an iconic London landmark.
Visit: Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) (historic site)
Imperial capital — seat of Emperor Aurangzeb's power and outrage
Agra, as one of the Mughal Empire's great imperial centers, represents the political power whose fury was unleashed by Every's attack. Emperor Aurangzeb — one of the most powerful rulers on earth — received news of the Ganj-i-Sawai's plundering with outrage, viewing the assault on pilgrims returning from Mecca as a profound religious and political humiliation. His response — threatening to expel the English East India Company from all Mughal territories — created the international crisis that Johnson argues ultimately shaped global capitalism.
Agra served as the capital of the Mughal Empire under emperors Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal there as a mausoleum for his wife. By Aurangzeb's reign (1658–1707) the court had shifted more to Delhi and Aurangabad, but Agra remained a major imperial city.
Agra is one of India's most visited cities, home to the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Fatehpur Sikri — all UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Mughal legacy is powerfully preserved in its architecture and draws millions of tourists annually.
Visit: Agra Fort (historic site)
Old Bailey area, City of London — imprisonment and execution of pirates
Several of Every's captured crew were held in Newgate Prison awaiting their trials at the adjacent Old Bailey. Johnson describes the grim conditions of Newgate and the spectacle of justice being performed — the convicted pirates were executed at Execution Dock in Wapping, their bodies hanged in chains as a warning to others. The government's desperate need to make an example of Every's men, driven entirely by the East India Company's commercial interests, is one of the book's central themes.
Newgate Prison operated from the 12th century until 1902 and was one of London's most notorious institutions, associated with public executions that drew enormous crowds. The prison was burned down during the Gordon Riots of 1780 and rebuilt. It was demolished in 1904 to make way for the current Old Bailey building.
The site of Newgate Prison is now entirely occupied by the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey). A small section of the original prison wall is visible in the Amen Court alley nearby. The Museum of London holds significant Newgate artifacts and records.
Visit: Museum of London (museum)
Wapping High Street, East London — where pirates were hanged
Execution Dock was where convicted pirates met their end in the 17th century, hanged at low tide so the Thames waters washed over them three times — a ritual execution at the boundary of the Admiralty's jurisdiction. Every himself was never captured and never faced this fate, but members of his crew who were convicted in the 1696 trials were executed here. Johnson uses Execution Dock as a symbol of the state's attempt to reassert order over the lawless sea, driven by the East India Company's commercial imperatives.
Execution Dock operated from the 15th to 19th centuries as the designated execution site for pirates and others convicted under Admiralty law. Famous pirates hanged here include Captain Kidd in 1701. The gibbet where bodies were displayed in chains was a powerful deterrent — or was meant to be.
The site of Execution Dock in Wapping is marked by a riverside pub, the Prospect of Whitby, which dates to 1520 and features a replica gibbet over the Thames. A small commemorative plaque marks the approximate location of the historic execution site.
Visit: Prospect of Whitby (historic site)
Major naval port — departure point for English voyages to the Indian Ocean
Plymouth was one of England's premier naval and commercial ports from which expeditions to the Indian Ocean departed. The broader Devon and West Country seafaring culture produced many of the sailors who ended up on pirate ships like Every's. Johnson situates Every within the world of English maritime expansion — men drawn from coastal communities who signed onto dangerous voyages for the promise of wages or plunder, setting off from ports like Plymouth into oceans that connected the entire world.
Plymouth has been a major English port since the medieval period, serving as the departure point for Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe in 1577 and the Mayflower's voyage to America in 1620. Its natural deep-water harbor made it strategically vital for the Royal Navy for centuries.
Plymouth is a vibrant coastal city with a strong maritime heritage. The historic Barbican harbor district preserves much of its 17th-century character, and the Mayflower Steps memorial marks the Pilgrim Fathers' departure. The National Marine Aquarium and Plymouth Hoe are major visitor attractions.
Visit: Mayflower Museum (museum)
Southern tip of Africa — crucial waypoint on the Indian Ocean route
The Cape of Good Hope was the essential turning point on the sea route between Europe and the Indian Ocean — every ship sailing from England to India had to round the Cape, making it a critical waypoint in the global trade networks that Johnson traces. Every's ship the Fancy and the pirate consortium would have navigated these waters on their outward journey into the Indian Ocean hunting grounds. The Cape represents the physical geography of the new global economy being forged in the 17th century.
The Cape was first rounded by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 and established as a regular route by Vasco da Gama in 1497–98. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded a refreshment station at the Cape in 1652, which grew into Cape Town. Control of the Cape was strategically vital for both the Dutch and later the British empires.
The Cape of Good Hope is now a nature reserve within Table Mountain National Park and one of South Africa's most visited tourist destinations. The iconic lighthouse, dramatic coastal scenery, and abundant wildlife including penguins make it a world-class natural landmark.
Visit: Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve (park)
Westminster — seat of government responding to the diplomatic crisis
Whitehall and the broader machinery of the English government were thrown into crisis by Every's attack and Aurangzeb's furious response. The Privy Council issued the bounties for Every's capture — alive or dead — and the government was compelled to act against pirates with a seriousness it had never before mustered, not out of moral principle but because the East India Company's profits and the Crown's customs revenues were at stake. Johnson shows how commercial pressure from a corporation shaped state policy, anticipating the entanglement of government and big business that defines the modern world.
Whitehall has been the center of English and later British government since the Palace of Whitehall served as the primary royal residence from 1530 until its destruction by fire in 1698. The street and surrounding area became synonymous with government ministries and the administrative apparatus of the British state.
Whitehall remains the heart of British government, lined with major ministries including the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence. The street is also home to the Cenotaph war memorial and Horse Guards Parade, making it both a working governmental district and a major tourist thoroughfare.
Visit: Banqueting House (historic site)
Pirate island — refuge and resupply hub for Indian Ocean pirates
Madagascar was the legendary pirate haven of the Indian Ocean world — a large island beyond effective European colonial control where pirates could careen their ships, trade their plunder, and rest between raids. Johnson explores how Madagascar functioned as a node in the pirate economy, with some of Every's crew reportedly settling there or passing through. The island represented the outer edge of the state's reach, a place where the new global economy's losers and outlaws could temporarily thrive outside the law.
Madagascar's reputation as a pirate base grew enormously in the 1690s and early 1700s. The legendary pirate utopia of 'Libertalia' was supposedly located there, though historians debate whether it ever truly existed. Real pirates including Every's contemporaries Captain Kidd and Thomas Tew did use Madagascan harbors extensively.
Madagascar is an independent nation and one of the world's most biodiverse islands, famous for its unique wildlife including lemurs. Tourism centers on its extraordinary natural heritage rather than its pirate history, with national parks and wildlife reserves being the primary attractions.
More by Steven Johnson: All Steven Johnson books