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Return to Treasure Island and the Search for Captain Kidd
When history's most famous pirate, Captain Kidd, was hanged in 1701, he left behind a trail of treasure and treachery that stretched halfway around the world. For undersea explorer Barry Clifford, the biggest prize of all would be to find the Adventure Galley, Kidd's legendary pirate ship. In the world of pirate archaeology, it was the Holy Grail.
With the help of the Discovery Channel, Clifford fields an expedition that includes some of America's top experts in shipwreck recovery. Their goal is to find, identify, and possibly excavate the remains of history's most famous pirate ship. The search takes them to the exotic nation of Madagascar and a tiny island off its rocky coast known to historians as the model for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. There, amid pirate graveyards, broken porcelain intended for a European royal family, and native rituals that include blood sacrifice, Clifford and his crew find far more than they bargained for. The island's murky harbor is filled with sunken pirate ships, making it difficult to single out the Adventure Galley, and the shores are teeming with people who want the expedition stopped. The team races to find the ship before dark forces expel it from the island -- forces motivated by the same resentment and greed that caused Kidd's downfall.
Return to Treasure Island and the Search for Captain Kidd weaves together two exciting the saga of Captain William Kidd, one of history's most baffling and mysterious figures, and Barry Clifford's obsessive quest to find perhaps the most notorious pirate ship of all time. The result is a tale of treasure and adventure that ends in death -- both Kidd's and, three hundredyears later, that of a rival archaeologist who attempts to stop Clifford's expedition.
With the help of the Discovery Channel, Clifford fields an expedition that includes some of America's top experts in shipwreck recovery. Their goal is to find, identify, and possibly excavate the remains of history's most famous pirate ship. The search takes them to the exotic nation of Madagascar and a tiny island off its rocky coast known to historians as the model for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. There, amid pirate graveyards, broken porcelain intended for a European royal family, and native rituals that include blood sacrifice, Clifford and his crew find far more than they bargained for. The island's murky harbor is filled with sunken pirate ships, making it difficult to single out the Adventure Galley, and the shores are teeming with people who want the expedition stopped. The team races to find the ship before dark forces expel it from the island -- forces motivated by the same resentment and greed that caused Kidd's downfall.
Return to Treasure Island and the Search for Captain Kidd weaves together two exciting the saga of Captain William Kidd, one of history's most baffling and mysterious figures, and Barry Clifford's obsessive quest to find perhaps the most notorious pirate ship of all time. The result is a tale of treasure and adventure that ends in death -- both Kidd's and, three hundredyears later, that of a rival archaeologist who attempts to stop Clifford's expedition.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 1, 2024
Yet another page turner from Barry Clifford and Paul Perry. With a great mix of history and archaeological drama, it feels like you are there on Pirate Island with them. A great pick for my first read of the new year!
August 25, 2010
The weakness of this book is probably the subject at hand. Captain Kidd, for all the interest in his character, is really not much of an exciting figure. The only aspect that leads to his romantic imagery is merely the fact as to whether or not he did in fact bury gold, and if so where. As the author Clifford himself writes, Kidd was far from pirate material, and his lacking as a true pirate captain and his indecision between being a privateer (as he was hired to be) and being a true pirate as well as his arrogance is what led to his downfall. For those interested in reading stories about true piracy, do not look here.
The other matter, the excavation of the site itself, is crammed into a few pages at the very end. The red-tape bureaucratic difficulties the team dealt with that impended the excavation of the site for Captain Kidd's first ship, Adventure Galley, is not exactly exciting to read about. The realism of the frustration, if anything, although giving credit to Clifford as a writer, does little for the reader. Instead, the reader is too filled with irritation that once again red-tape matters is slowing down the uncovering of important history.
The only thing that does make this all very interesting is the revealing of Kidd's true self: as a sort of weak-willed man whose greed and arrogance were such a flaw to him that it cost his very life. But in the way that reading how a great villain is in fact rather weak, it's a bit of a letdown either way.
The other matter, the excavation of the site itself, is crammed into a few pages at the very end. The red-tape bureaucratic difficulties the team dealt with that impended the excavation of the site for Captain Kidd's first ship, Adventure Galley, is not exactly exciting to read about. The realism of the frustration, if anything, although giving credit to Clifford as a writer, does little for the reader. Instead, the reader is too filled with irritation that once again red-tape matters is slowing down the uncovering of important history.
The only thing that does make this all very interesting is the revealing of Kidd's true self: as a sort of weak-willed man whose greed and arrogance were such a flaw to him that it cost his very life. But in the way that reading how a great villain is in fact rather weak, it's a bit of a letdown either way.
July 14, 2017
An interesting read for someone fascinated with underwater archaeology, ship wrecks and the drama of excavation permits.
August 17, 2017
This book was ok, not an overly exciting story, but still good.
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June 22, 2019This book is well worth the time to read and very interesting. I am not even interested in pirate stories so you know this book is great.
June 3, 2021
Great story told in a fast moving and interesting fashion. Good for Barry Clifford, he did not disappoint!
March 6, 2022
A good and true adventure. Clearly speaks of the way a search progresses and the many obstacles along the way , permits, etc
April 5, 2023
Man, I miss archaeology. Also, man I do NOT miss archaeology. Also, I should have been a marine archaeologist but ALSO, I should have been a pirate.
November 5, 2023
Interesting read on shipwrecks and archaeology.
June 9, 2015
"with Paul Perry."
Slight effort about attempt to recover Kidd's flagship from a real-life "Pirate Island" is basically a high-level overview of Kidd's career intertwined with Clifford's misadventures in looking for the ship with few results. Superficial and ultimately disappointing effort left me questioning if this was really enough to be a stand-alone book; it would have made a decent National Geographic article.
See my review of The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd which was also disappointing. There seems to be a dearth of serious scholarship in this area.
Slight effort about attempt to recover Kidd's flagship from a real-life "Pirate Island" is basically a high-level overview of Kidd's career intertwined with Clifford's misadventures in looking for the ship with few results. Superficial and ultimately disappointing effort left me questioning if this was really enough to be a stand-alone book; it would have made a decent National Geographic article.
See my review of The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd which was also disappointing. There seems to be a dearth of serious scholarship in this area.
February 21, 2013
This was a very interesting book. Having done a great deal of research on Captain Kidd while writing Pirates of the Carolinas I found the information was valid and comprehensive. Also, I enjoyed the way Clifford shifted between his shipwreck expedition and the exploits of Kidd. I enjoyed it alot and even learned a thing or two I didn't know about Kidd and all that's involved in salvaging shipwrecks.
May 13, 2008
The real story here is the difficulties Clifford encounters in trying to do his job - the constant obstruction and logistical challenges give the behind-the-scenes story you never see on the Discovery Channel.
May 18, 2014
More about the difficulties of government permitting and the politics of treasure hunting. The book is well written and a quick and easy read that goes a long way in shedding a truer light on the character William Kidd.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews