Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World

Rivals #4

by Scott McCormick, Sean Patrick Hopkins (Narrator), Kevin T. Colins (Narrator)

Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World

Exclusively on Audible, hilarious history for ages eight and up.

Hoist the mizzenmast and batten down those bloody hatches: Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World tells the hilarious-but-true adventures of history’s most amazing pirates.

Learn about Stede Bonnet, the gentleman pirate, who left a life of luxury to become one of the most clueless pirates ever; Anne Bonney and Mary Read, two “openly female women” whose exploits turned them into media sensations; Jean and Pierre Lafitte, the Pirate Kings of New Orleans, who helped America win The War of 1812, and Ching Shih, the Chinese woman who rose from utter poverty to become the greatest pirate in history.

Pirates! has it all: swordfights, cannon blasts, parrot poop, daring acts of idiocy, bumbling British officers, and of course, plenty of booty. So buckle your swashes and swish your swords, Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World is setting sail to the land of hilarity.

Listening Length: 3 hours and 11 minutes

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Humor, Historical, Pirates, Biography

3 pages, Audible Audio

First published November 24, 2020

About the author

Scott McCormick is the author of more Scott McCormick bios than any other Scott McCormick who ever Scott McCormicked. Look it up if you don’t believe me. He also writes the Mr. Pants graphic novels and the hilarious Audible Originals The Dragon Squisher, Spies! Sneak, Snoops, and Saboteurs Who Shaped the World, Mutually Assured Detention, and the number-one bestseller Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World. But who are we kidding? The real money is in writing bios. You take that advice to the bank. Tell ‘em Scott McCormick sent you. And if they ask you which Scott McCormick, you tell ‘em the Scott-McCormick-bio-writing Scott McCormick of the North Carolina Scott McCormicks. They’ll know who you mean.

Reviews

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love everything Scott McCormick does on Audible. While this series is geared towards the family friendly/kiddo vibe, I am a lone adult listening to these on my drive to work. And I love them.

A great launching pad for fascinating stories in history. I've found some cool books as a result of his Audible pieces that then delve into the stories in more detail. Or rather, Scott finds them and recommends them at the end of his pieces. I just track them down.

I'd rate this a super kid friendly PG.

[Wee Lassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Excellent

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World by Scott McCormick and narrated by a variety of performers is a funny yet informative book that kids and adults will love! It's a fabulous review of history or a fun way to learn! I wish all my history lessons had been like this!

[Greg Kopstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine. I enjoyed Rivals (1 and 2) much more and this was not that informative. The narrations are becoming a little too over the top. It’s fine for an audiobook, ok I guess for teens, but for this HS social studies teacher, it may be my last in this series.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Series: Rivals! #3
Rating: 3 stars - I liked it

Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World takes us back in history to discuss the lives of six different pirates: Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, Mary Read, Jean and Pierre Lafitte, and Ching Shih.

This was a fascinating look at some pirate history. Stede Bonnet, known as the gentleman pirate, was a fascinating and clueless man who somehow was successful as a pirate. He even met Blackbeard which is crazy for how bad of a sailor/pirate he was. The Lafitte brothers had a fascinating history as well. I never realized that a couple of pirates and smugglers had helped America win the War of 1812.

I really enjoyed the history of Anne Bonney, Mary Read, and Ching Shih though. These women didn’t hide their gender on the seas and were pretty successful, especially Ching Shih. I found the pirating history of China fascinating because I didn’t even know that piracy had been a problem at one point. Ching Shih was a woman ahead of her times and was a mastermind. I loved how she took over and brought prosperity to her pirates, and she lived to tell her grandkids about it.

While this volume did have the over-the-top production that the previous book did, this one was more streamlined and actually flowed with the information better. It wasn’t distracting or off putting for a change, so it is getting better.

Overall, this was a fascinating look at the history of piracy and I really want to learn about the women who were featured in this one.


You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.

[Krissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCormick's books always make me laugh. His snarky humor makes history fun.

[Shamim Hafiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is good in every definition. The humor in content, presentation and information all were top notch.

[Julie Nichol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this with some of my siblings and absolutely loved it! It is super informative and also really funny.

[Veronica Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Surya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A set of fascinating tales well told
Lesser known figures spring to life in this fun, fast and clever telling by an entertaining set of characters.
Give this short and crisp book your ear..

[Cara Noyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, the Macormick book was hilarious.
The first and fourth chapters were my favorites.
Stede Bonnet was one of my ancestors. Of course he was portrayed as as a silly nincompoop! But Bonnet had a dubious history. Why would a wealthy plantation owner in Barbados decide to give it up to become a pirate? Boredom? Bonnet’s fictitious manservant in the book was full of deadpan humor- loved it! After buying his own sloop (no pirates 🏴‍☠️ before had done that) he didn’t know what he was doing. Bonnet’s bizarre life was perfect fodder for this fun adaptation.

Learning about the fascinating lady pirate was so awesome. I loved it.

[SpookySoto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5/5 I liked it a lot😁


Funny, educational and entertaining

[Nicole Geub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, fun and riveting! I finished this one real quick and I learned about a couple new figures not generally talked about in the pirate research I've done. The chapter on Steed Bonnet and learning about Andrew Jackson's involvement with the lafitte brothers was cool. This narrative is told with a full cast of characters and makes it fun and easy to listen to.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook The World was another on of McCormick’s Rivalry Series books. This one broke into four parts. The first part covered the gentleman pirate, Stede Bonnet, who was a former wealthy British naval officer that turned rouge. He had bought his ship, hired pirates and was reckless as far as the standard of pirates go. The second part was about women pirates, Anne Bonney and Mary Read. The third part was about pirate kings, Jean and Pierre Lafitte. The fourth part was about pirate queens mainly the Chinese Queen Ching Shih. Overall the book was interesting filled with lots of abstract humor that further fueled the stories although not historically accurate representations of people or situations. Although not as detailed as Daniel Defoe's The History of Pyrates, it was entertaing and an enjoyable read.

[CraftyChara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Bill Hooten · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "Golden Age of Piracy" has always interested me, and they may be because I watched too many Errol Flynn movies when I was a kid. Scot McCormick's book was made available as an Audible Original, and I just had to give it a try. Once I started it, I wished I hadn't. I thought it was a Johnny Depp version of a book, and he was going to ruin the book, like he had the movies. But the more I listened, the more facts and information I realized was being given. So as I listened, I had to filter for what I wanted and ignore the rest. It was a really fascinating book, and I'm sure that the sophomoric humor was intended for junior high and below -- but it was worth the listen. The ridiculous humor was the only reason that I didn't give it a 5 star rating. Two things that interested me was the pirate army of the south China sea -- 1600 boats and 70,000 sailors, and led buy a woman (in the late 1700's and early 1800's). The bibliography that was offered at the end just increased my list for my library.

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this after the one about Vikings and I think I just thoroughly enjoyed the Vikings one more. Both were good and upfront that there are few primary sources on the material. However, this pirates one, I found it harder to discern what was known, presumed, or fabricated. Namely, the first chapter was the biggest problem. This production made a lot of hoopla about Stede Bonnet's personality, and I just didn't know if that was true. Their theatrical effects applied to his character in the acted-out portions were pretty strongly swayed toward a whiny man. And perhaps that is well documented, but I simply don't know. They were as upfront about the known details of his demeanor. I know this is produced for a young audience, so most of my faults with it probably stem from that. I thought the theatrics were a little too much and I wouldn't have minded a bit more of the factual information, along with some opposing views. However, it was still enjoyable, and I flew through the material.

[Brooke A Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

As we all know, I love pirates, almost as much as I love dinosaurs. One of my all-time favorite historical figures is in fact my girl Grace O'Malley.
She was not one of the ones featured in this.
Instead we get Stede Bonnet, who I've never heard of and he's a new favorite of mine because of how absurd he is. Am I going to be looking into my boy Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate? You bet your butts. We also get the dynamic duo of both Mary Read and Anne Bonny, and the Lafitte Brothers, Jean and Pierre. And then last but not least, Ching Shih, who is absolutely fabulous. I love me some girl bosses and she fits the bill.

Just the fact that I got a pirate that I've never heard of is enough to warrant a five star from me. The hilarity is also worth a five star. Between the two, amazing. Well worth my time.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to try audiobooks for my son to listen to on the drives to and from school.

This included some very interesting history, while honest that some of it is more legend. I found the voices a bit annoying, but that probably makes it more appealing to kids. Some things could have been left out or said differently to be more appropriate for kids, although my son is likely younger than the target audience.

While my son didn't show much enthusiasm for it, I did always ask if he wanted to continue or listen to music, and he chose to continue all but one time. When I told him the others in the series, he asked to listen to Vikings next. Since he's younger, not used to listening to a story, or a story this long, he may still be processing it.

[Tiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for pirate history, it's just so interesting to me. This book delivers history in a comical way, though it sometimes feels as if they're trying TOO hard to make the reader laugh. I won't lie, there were a few moments where I did laugh, but there were a lot of moments that I ended up groaning at the attempt of humor, especially in regards to puns.

If I had to label this, I'd say... it's silly history. It's real history, but done is a silly, theatrical way. I'm not sure if this book was aimed towards kids or not. I can see how it could be. If it's not, it was a bit too childish and pushed too hard to try and be funny.

I still enjoyed it, though. It was super interesting and I learned things I didn't know before. I love pirates.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible Review

Overall 5 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 5 out of 5 stars


Another entertaining educational listen.
Book 3 in the Rivals! series was just as entertaining and educational as the previous 2. I like the quickness of these, but you get just enough info to be hooked, which leads to doing research on the different subjects/people covered. I had just listened to a romance novel about pirates before this, so it was interesting to me to see that I already knew some of the things covered.
I really enjoyed learning about the female pirates and will have to look for more info on them!

Once again the performance/narrating was excellent.

[Rick Verde · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really fun and educational piece of literature. The way they portrayed everything made it for really for story to listen to. However listening to the history you also get to learn a lot about all the different figures piracy history including why they are the way they are. Humanizes each of them instead of making them these strange figures from history. It shows you what circumstances came about to turn them into the people that they were but also show the ingenuity of each of them. It goes to show that no matter what there’s always two sides to every story. Also ties me personally to be more interested in researching them even further. It’s a very well done book.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the last audiobook I read by Scott McCormick, this was a fun, but watered down version of history. I still enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but it is a little difficult to make pirates more palatable, considering their usual activities. Still, the history is fascinating and I remember being interested in pirates around middle school. This is an excellent place to start and it's just a shame that we know so little about some of these pirates outside of the events catalogued in this narrative. The sound effects were a little cheesy but it makes sense for the audience.

[Rachel]

Admits to taking much from the Complete whatever whataever that was written after the golden age of piracy and isn't super reliable. (this is acknowledged.) Curious how much of the Chinese piracy is accurate (I did find myself going "foot binding was a CLASS thing," which didn't get brought up but nitpicking) but pleased to some nod to queerness apparently a couple times during this??? most fun performances out of the rivals series for me so far.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

After taking a class on Caribbean history this semester, I was well versed on the Caribbean pirates, but I did not know much about pirates everywhere else. Deciding to give this a listen, I was ready to learn about some of the most notorious pirates in the same, lecture style method of learning I’ve been given the past 14 weeks. While I learned a lot, it was in a much more laid back and fun way. I love the way that McCormick presents history, making it informational, comedic, and memorable.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and engaging book for anyone with an interest in Pirates and their history, including an unfamiliar-to-me Chinese lady pirate. It’s not a deep dive, but it gives you enough information to understand the context, and the times. I have read a few nonfiction books on pirates, and I still learned several new things from this. I didn’t find it as funny as the Rivals! books, especially not the first part with Steed Bonnett, but I still enjoyed it, and will share with my kids.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott McCormick again delivers history in an interesting way. Kids and adults are definitely more likely to remember tidbits from this audible original than from reading the typical textbook.

I had been completely ignorant of the history of Chinese piracy, so that especially caught my attention. It was also interesting to hear of some of the women who were pirates.

Also I’m very grateful to live a life where flogging and beheading or prison are not likely outcomes for me. Wow. Violent times.

[Kate Laird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very interesting collection from this author. If you like pirates these stories will be enjoyable and also really nice to highlight female pirates and pirates of other nationalities. It all revolves around historical pirates so there is a good deal of history but it is presented in a very easy to consume way.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies but knew nothing about the history of pirates.
This included 4 interesting anecdotes about the golden age of pirates, though the narration was slightly over-the-top.
A fun listen recommended for adults interested in the history of piracy or organized crime.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you may or may not have noticed, I'm on a bit of a roll with the whole pirate theme, which of course has nothing whatsoever to do with my ongoing obsession with a certain HBO show (she said while getting ready for her fifth OFMD rewatch)... This was a lot of fun and easily my favourite of the series.