Set sail for adventure. Out of this past the pirate emerges as a romantic, even at times heroic, figure. This final niche, despite his crimes, cannot altogether be denied him. A hero he is and will remain so long as tales of the sea are told. So, have at him, in these pages! Here are seventeen tails of swashbuckling adventure full of courage and danger!

An ancient Hopi proverb states “He who tells stories, rules the world.” Well here is your chance to become a King, or a Queen for a day, or at least, a few hours…… Herein, are 18 true and fictional stories, adventures and accounts of pirates and pirate actions. Stories like The Piccaroon, The Capture of Panama, The Daughter of the Great Mogul, The King of the Pirates, Barbarossa—King of the Corsairs, (Captain) Morgan at Puerto Bello, The Ways of the buccaneers and many, many more. While the majority of these stories occur in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, a few stories from the Eastern Indian Ocean are included as well. At its highest expression, piracy embodies the romance of the high seas, and, in the main, we have Hollywood’s swashbucklers to thank for this. It is also a sad but inevitable commentary on the attitudes of mankind during the middle-to-late middle ages, that, if men were savages on land, they were doubly so at sea. There may be a certain human perversity in this, for the pirate was, at best, unquestionably a bad person. Piracy was gradually overcome with the settlement and ordering of the far-flung colonies and with the advent of steam power. Even so, romanticised accounts of fictional pirates are included in this volume. Equally so are the true accounts of piratical actions, mainly provided by the Royal Navy. Ours was a bold hardy world, up to the advent of steam,—every foot of which was won by fierce conquest of one sort or another. Out of this past the pirate emerges as a romantic, even at times, an heroic, figure. This final niche, despite his crimes, cannot altogether be denied to him. A hero he is and will remain so long as tales of the sea are told. So, have at him - in these pages! ============= KEYWORDS/TAGS: folklore, fairy tales, fairytales, legends, myths, children’s stories, fables, bedtime stories, allegories, Piccaroon, Tom Cringle, Log, Capture of Panama, Buccaneers of America, Afloat, Ashore, Wonderful, Fight, Exchange, Bristol, Pirates, Algiers, Purchas, Pilgrims, Daughter, Great Mogul, King of the Pirates, Barbarossa, King of the Corsairs, Sea Wolves, Mediterranean, Captain Morgan, Puerto Bello, Ways of the Buccaneers, Customs, Spanish Main, True, Three Notorious Pirates, Capture, Ship Derby, Francis Lolonois, Slave, Pirate King, Fight. Dorrill, Moca, Indian Antiquary, Jaddi, Malay Pirate, Terrible Ladrones, Passing, Mogul Mackenzie, North Atlantic Pirate, Blackwood's Magazine, Last of the Sea-Rovers, Riff Coast Pirates, Nautical Magazine

Great Pirate Stories is a collection of extracts of tales of pirates (whether fictional or not - there is no clear indication which are and aren't, you would have to look up each original book for that!). The tales range in dates from as early as 1621 to the 19th Century, which results in the use of a great range of styles of English language (the 1621 account might be a little difficult to read for some due to the more arbitrary use of grammar and spelling of the time). Each extract gives a snippet of a particular encounter with pirates, whether from the pirate's perspective and standpoint or that of their victims or onlookers to the events. Each account is short and wets the appetite for more story before suddenly ending - I'm in half a mind to track down each of the original books for more details. Some accounts are quite intriguing and bring to mind a number of questions about the content (anything from the realism to the accuracy could be questioned down to the motives and what exactly did happen next)... This book does not confine itself to European-based pirates (wherever they then roamed), but also brings out accounts of Chinese, Malay and various other less well-known pirate groups (at least less well-known to me, having done little studies of the topic). Some pirate names are quite familiar though, such as Barbarossa or Morgan. If you have an interest in pirates and pirate stories, this book is a good little gem that'll unearth other gems for you. (Carole's Reviews)

Enjoy the best sea adventures, treasure hunt tales and bloody battles, along with learning the truth behind the legends, the real life stories that inspired so many writers and produced so many beloved classics: History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates (Captain Charles Johnson) The Book of Buried Treasure Treasure Island (R. L. Stevenson) Blackbeard: Buccaneer (R. D. Paine) Pieces of Eight (Le Gallienne) Captain Singleton (Defoe) Gold-Bug (Edgar Allan Poe) Hearts of Three (Jack London) The Dark Frigate (C. B. Hawes) Isle of Pirate's Doom (Robert E. Howard) Swords of Red Brotherhood (Howard) Queen of Black Coast (Howard) Barbarossa—King of the Corsairs Black Vulmea (Howard) Afloat and Ashore (James F. Cooper) Homeward Bound (Cooper) Red Rover (Cooper) Facing the Flag (Jules Verne) A Pirate of the Caribbees (H. Collingwood) Pirate Gow (Daniel Defoe) The King of Pirates (Defoe) The Pirate (Walter Scott) Rose of Paradise (Howard Pyle) Captain Sharkey (Arthur Conan Doyle) The Pirate (Frederick Marryat) Three Cutters (Marryat) Madman and the Pirate (R. M. Ballantyne) The Offshore Pirate (F. Scott Fitzgerald) Coral Island (Ballantyne) Under the Waves (Ballantyne) Pirate City (Ballantyne) Captain Boldheart (Dickens) Master Key (L. Frank Baum) A Man to His Mate (J. Allan Dunn) Tales of the Fish Patrol (Jack London) Robinson Crusoe (Defoe) Peter Pan and Wendy (J. M. Barrie) Mysterious Island (Jules Verne) Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas) Ghost Pirates (W. H. Hodgson) The Pirate Island (H. Collingwood) Among Malay Pirates The Capture of Panama, 1671 The Malay Proas (James F. Cooper) The Daughter of the Great Mogul (Defoe) Morgan at Puerto Bello The Ways of the Buccaneers Narrative of the Capture of the Ship Derby, 1735 (Captain Anselm) The Fight Between the Dorrill and the Moca Jaddi the Malay Pirate The Terrible Ladrones The Female Captive The Passing of Mogul Mackenzie Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean Pirates of Panama ...

Over the years, thousands of tales, both true and fantastic, have been told about the dastardly thievery of pirates, and their rum-drunk exploits and high-seas violence never fail to delight. Compiled here are more than 100 of the very best pirate yarns ever created on history's most debaucherous scalawags. The stories, songs, and verses include writing by Daniel Defoe, Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, James Fenimore Cooper, Robert Louis Stevenson, and many more.