The History of the Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates: Their Trials and Executions

by Ezra Strong (Editor), Lyons Press

Prepare yourself for the horror as you enter a world of murderers and thieves armed with swords, knives, and cannons. This book is filled with stories of terror on the high seas. As you turn each page be prepared to be consumed by a society where lying is a way of life and pilfering is a means of survival. These stories depict the lives of history's most noted pirates, from where they grew up, to how they became some of the most nefarious characters to terrorize nations around the world.
Every story in the book is an adventure as you travel with young, prestigious men on their journey to an infamous future. Experience the battles and the bloodshed, the victories and defeats. Learn how so many never set out to become pirates, but ended their lives some of the most vicious and feared humans to ever sail. Find out how Captain Missions grew up in an ancient family and went to the most prestigious schools before sealing his fate. Read of the notorious Englishman Captain Kidd, and how he was captured, sentenced, and executed for his crimes.
Anyone who likes to read about battles, war, good guys and bad guys, or simply has a passion for history or the ocean will be enthralled by this book. The language is authentic, the action is incessant, the tone and pace will keep you wanting to read story after story, and the true-life tales could not be more unbelievable.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Pirates, Biography

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1855

Reviews

[Wayne Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another volume that I purchased in the Pirates of the Caribbean section of Disney World. It contains true tales of battles and bloodshed, soaring triumphs and stinging defeats, about men who achieved notoriety as high-seas outlaws, primarily in the early eighteenth century. The book first appeared in the mid nineteenth century when pirates still were active in the Caribbean, Africa, and the Orient. Of course, it does contain many references to drinking alcohol and a few graphic descriptions of killing, both common practices among pirates. In my estimation, it is not as good as The History of Piracy by Philip Gosse.

As it was apparently collated from ships’ logs, newspaper accounts, letters, and other written documents, I will have to agree with one reviewer who said, “Much of the narrative is very minutely episodic, so that some the chapters resemble a story told by a talkative two-year-old.” Still, it does contain a lot of fascinating historical information that might be of interest to die-hard fans of pirate-related literature. The same reviewer also complained that, “The text waxes incoherently preachy in spots, which is tiresome.” I really didn’t mind that because I have found that those who object to being “preachy” usually come from a multi-cultural worldview where nothing is really good or evil, whereas editor Ezra Strong does display a finely-tuned sense of right and wrong. Though it was a bit hard to get through at times, I still enjoyed reading it.

[Benjamin Salin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where do I start with this well, mess. This book is hardly a work of scholarship as it addresses nearly as much unverifiable rumor and fiction as it does actual history. The book in no way cites any sources for its information and claims offering little if any evidence. Written in the 1860s this book is unfortunately a product of its time as the author makes racist and prejudice assertions and generalizations about Jews, Catholics, and the people of Madagascar as well as Black people in general. Many of these statements are either based on stereotypes or 1800s pseudoscience that has since been disproven or discredited. There are many great books about pirates out there, this is not one of them, and every word of its pages must be taken with a shaker of salt.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I honestly only picked up this book to read more about the pirates mentioned in the 4th video game of the Uncharted series Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

I knew I was only going to read a couple chapters out of this book, since most of the other chapters were about pirates not mentioned in the game. I started reading about Captain Thomas Tew, but it was so boring I had to stop. It wasn't really exciting and the author just used too many words. I was also going to read about Captain Chrstopher Condent, but I couldn't bring myself to read after 5 pages of Tew.