It sounds inconceivable, but, according to Ed Kritzler, it was common in the 17th century to see Sephardic Jewish pirates raiding Spanish ships off the coasts of Brazil and Cuba searching for gold and silver.

Ed, who lives in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, is the author of Jewish Pirates Of The Caribbean (JR Books, £17.99).

He had wanted to call the book Jewish Pioneers in the New World, but his editor, Adam Bellow, son of novelist Saul Bellow, changed it due to the popularity of Johnny Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Ed, 68, said: "Jamaica belonged to the family of Christopher Columbus, who provided a haven for Jews in the New World - this was before the British colonised it.

"A lot of the Jews intermarried and, today, many non-Jewish Jamaicans have Sephardic Jewish names such as De Souza or Da Costa.

"The pirates were the descendants of Spanish Jews who had been kicked out during the Inquisition and they hated Spain."

Ed, who was brought up on Long Island, New York, said his fascination with the Caribbean began when he worked for local newspapers in the mid-1960s.

Of Russian and Hungarian descent, he recalled: "I actually went to Cuba when I was 19, after the Revolution.

"I also went to the Dominican Republic after the fall of the Rafael Trujillo regime in 1961. I was an adventurer."

Ed's love for the Caribbean saw him move to Jamaica and he landed a job with the island's tourist board.

His interest in pirates was fuelled by his first visit to the Institute of Jamaica 40 years ago.

He said: "I read something by a pirate called William Jackson, from 1643.

"He wrote that when he landed in Kingston he found the capital deserted, apart from Iberian Jews who promised to help him find gold. That started off all the research."

One of the best-known pirates Ed has written about is Samuel Pallache - who was also a rabbi.

He added: "Pallache was motivated by a hatred of the Spanish. He captured Spanish ships and led a congregation in Amsterdam, as well.

"Pallache was a Barbary pirate and operated off the North African coast. He was an inspiration to the Jews who went to the New World as pirates."

One of the pirates that followed in his footsteps was Moses Henrique Cohen.

In 1628 he sailed with Dutch admiral Piet Hein of the Dutch West India Company, who was a former Spanish galleon slave.

Ed explained: "Hein hated the Spanish too and the two of them set out for Brazil after the Dutch invaded the country.

"A Jewish community was set up in the coastal town of Recife, but they were later kicked out."

One of the most well-known pirates was the American Jean Lafitte, who came from New Orleans.

He was portrayed by Yul Brynner in the 1958 film The Buccaneer.

Ed claimed: "Lafitte actually wrote that his maternal grandparents were Spanish Jews who had been tortured during the Inquisition."

Lafitte later married Christiana Levine, from a Jewish family in Denmark.

Ed added that most of the Jewish pirates did not hide their roots and in many Jewish graveyards in the Caribbean, graves are decorated with the skull-and-crossbones engraving.

There around 200 Jews living in Jamaica today, Ed being one of them.

And he said Jamaica is immensely proud of its Jewish community and past.

He explained: "The Jamaicans I know are full of admiration for the Jews.

"There is a Jewish heritage museum in Kingston and every Jamaican school child visits it and loves it."

Ed also revealed that during the late 19th century, a quarter of the members of the Jamaican House of Assembly were Jewish and that the house used to adjourn for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

Ed is something of a macher in Jamaica and is often contacted by American journalists arriving on the island.

He was friends with music icon Bob Marley and even hints at the reggae legend's Jewish roots.

Ed said: "There is nothing definitive, but Marley's father apparently had Syrian-Jewish ancestry. He never discussed it with me, though."

Ed also introduced Bob Dylan to Marley, describing them as "brothers under different skin".