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The Book of Pirates
Highly readable, magnificently illustrated tales recount the rip-roaring adventures of swashbuckling pirates and buccaneers of the Spanish Main. Includes "The Ghost of Captain Brand," "Tom Chist and the Treasure Box," "Jack Ballister's Fortunes," "The Ruby of Kishmoor," and other tales. Enhanced with 63 of the author's own illustrations, including 11 full-color plates.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
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About the author
Howard Pyle
753 books315 followersHoward Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people.
During 1894 he began teaching illustration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University), and after 1900 he founded his own school of art and illustration named the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. The term Brandywine School was later applied to the illustration artists and Wyeth family artists of the Brandywine region by Pitz. Some of his more famous students were N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Elenore Abbott, Ethel Franklin Betts, Anna Whelan Betts, Harvey Dunn, Clyde O. DeLand, Philip R. Goodwin, Violet Oakley, Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle, Olive Rush, Allen Tupper True, and Jessie Willcox Smith.
His 1883 classic publication The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood remains in print, and his other books, frequently with medieval European settings, include a four-volume set on King Arthur. He is also well known for his illustrations of pirates, and is credited with creating the now stereotypical modern image of pirate dress. He published an original novel, Otto of the Silver Hand, in 1888. He also illustrated historical and adventure stories for periodicals such as Harper's Weekly and St. Nicholas Magazine. His novel Men of Iron was made into a movie in 1954, The Black Shield of Falworth.
Pyle travelled to Florence, Italy to study mural painting during 1910, and died there in 1911 from a kidney infection (Bright's Disease).
His sister Katharine Pyle was also a writer and illustrator. Their mother was the children's author and translator M.C. Pyle.
During 1894 he began teaching illustration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University), and after 1900 he founded his own school of art and illustration named the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. The term Brandywine School was later applied to the illustration artists and Wyeth family artists of the Brandywine region by Pitz. Some of his more famous students were N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Elenore Abbott, Ethel Franklin Betts, Anna Whelan Betts, Harvey Dunn, Clyde O. DeLand, Philip R. Goodwin, Violet Oakley, Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle, Olive Rush, Allen Tupper True, and Jessie Willcox Smith.
His 1883 classic publication The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood remains in print, and his other books, frequently with medieval European settings, include a four-volume set on King Arthur. He is also well known for his illustrations of pirates, and is credited with creating the now stereotypical modern image of pirate dress. He published an original novel, Otto of the Silver Hand, in 1888. He also illustrated historical and adventure stories for periodicals such as Harper's Weekly and St. Nicholas Magazine. His novel Men of Iron was made into a movie in 1954, The Black Shield of Falworth.
Pyle travelled to Florence, Italy to study mural painting during 1910, and died there in 1911 from a kidney infection (Bright's Disease).
His sister Katharine Pyle was also a writer and illustrator. Their mother was the children's author and translator M.C. Pyle.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
October 2, 2018
Howard Pyle's The Book of Pirates starts off like a non-fiction history of pirates, mainly of the Caribbean variety. It's not an absolutely enthralling history, but it does try to enliven the old stories, almost in the way that modern writers of history have managed.
After the introductory rundown of who's who in the pirating world, Pyle dives into very fictionalized accounts of famous and semi-famous pirates' lives. These are no longer as exciting as they once were. When this was published, I'm sure the writing style was acceptable to readers. Now, not so much. Too often does he foretell the outcome of his story and spoil the ending. The tension is deflated before it can carry the reader away. Also, he employs an old school verbiage that prefers to use 10 words when one would do.
Having said that, this is still about pirates, and that's never a bad thing when it comes to books!
After the introductory rundown of who's who in the pirating world, Pyle dives into very fictionalized accounts of famous and semi-famous pirates' lives. These are no longer as exciting as they once were. When this was published, I'm sure the writing style was acceptable to readers. Now, not so much. Too often does he foretell the outcome of his story and spoil the ending. The tension is deflated before it can carry the reader away. Also, he employs an old school verbiage that prefers to use 10 words when one would do.
Having said that, this is still about pirates, and that's never a bad thing when it comes to books!
April 21, 2008
I don't know how it's possible to turn anecdotes of the biggest names in piracy into a dry, uninteresting recitation of stories that are neither unique nor particularly scandalous, but this volume accomplished it.
May 29, 2025
i really wanted to give this 4 stars, but the old English made for a mind-wandering audio book listen. may revisit with a physical copy. tales of pirating, divided into 8 long chapters.
1. Buccaneers and Marooners: a history of the most famous of the Spanish Main pirates.
2. The Ghost of Captain Brand: Barnaby True, the grandson of the infamous pirate William Brand, embarks on an adventure involving his grandfather's murderer and his rightful inheritance.
3. With the Buccaneers: the capture of a Spanish ship and a young sailor serving under Henry Morgan who was instrumental in the fight. a brief story.
4.Tom Chist and the Treasure Box: a baby boy is found amid the wreck of a ship in Henlopen, Delaware, and is taken in by the locals. many years later, the same boy happens to come across a group of pirates burying their treasure in the moonlight. while cashing in on his find he discovers the truth of his origins.
Captain Kidd getting hanged for the manslaughter of his own crewman is like Al Capone being sentenced for tax evasion.
5. Jack Ballister's fortunes: Ocracoke, Captain Robert Maynard, and the death of Blackbeard. this appears to be very different from Pyle's "The Story of Jack Ballister's Fortunes"...the titular character doesn't even appear in this version.
6.Blueskin, the Pirate: a pirate with skin colored from a blast of gunpowder terrorizes the East coast. when the prodigal son of a mill owner returns after many years, his simple half brother is suspicious. murder, buried treasure, and a pirate brought to justice.
7.Captain Scarfield: the tale of a pirate who lives a double life as a respectable Quaker merchant.
8. The Ruby of Kishmoor: a young Quaker at port in Kingston, Jamaica finds himself entangled in a bloody adventure involving a priceless ruby stolen by pirates years before. this was the most exciting story imo.
1. Buccaneers and Marooners: a history of the most famous of the Spanish Main pirates.
2. The Ghost of Captain Brand: Barnaby True, the grandson of the infamous pirate William Brand, embarks on an adventure involving his grandfather's murderer and his rightful inheritance.
3. With the Buccaneers: the capture of a Spanish ship and a young sailor serving under Henry Morgan who was instrumental in the fight. a brief story.
4.Tom Chist and the Treasure Box: a baby boy is found amid the wreck of a ship in Henlopen, Delaware, and is taken in by the locals. many years later, the same boy happens to come across a group of pirates burying their treasure in the moonlight. while cashing in on his find he discovers the truth of his origins.
Captain Kidd getting hanged for the manslaughter of his own crewman is like Al Capone being sentenced for tax evasion.
5. Jack Ballister's fortunes: Ocracoke, Captain Robert Maynard, and the death of Blackbeard. this appears to be very different from Pyle's "The Story of Jack Ballister's Fortunes"...the titular character doesn't even appear in this version.
6.Blueskin, the Pirate: a pirate with skin colored from a blast of gunpowder terrorizes the East coast. when the prodigal son of a mill owner returns after many years, his simple half brother is suspicious. murder, buried treasure, and a pirate brought to justice.
7.Captain Scarfield: the tale of a pirate who lives a double life as a respectable Quaker merchant.
8. The Ruby of Kishmoor: a young Quaker at port in Kingston, Jamaica finds himself entangled in a bloody adventure involving a priceless ruby stolen by pirates years before. this was the most exciting story imo.
September 13, 2020
This collection of popular pirate stories, which mostly centre around brave non-pirates who crossed paths with an infamous pirate and lived to tell the tale, were refreshing to read. However, they are very romanticised stories focusing on the more adventurous side of piracy than the true aspect of it (though the sacking and slaughter of entire towns is mentioned, just not gory detail). An enjoyable, quick read.
November 27, 2017
Did not keep my interest.
February 19, 2019
The two sections on history are informative, although not especially appealing, but the six stories are wonderful for those who are able to appreciate the vocabulary. At times Pyle is a bit redundant (how many times does one need to hear the word "doubtless" - the worst spate is the six times on pp.218-20), but those devoted to enjoying rather than criticizing can overlook this kind of thing.
Well read by Simon Vance, although the recording contains a very audible page shuffling at one point.
Well read by Simon Vance, although the recording contains a very audible page shuffling at one point.
May 23, 2020
What really stood out were the absolutely stunning and beautiful illustrations throughout the book. Looking at them you could smell the rum, fish and cannon powder and hear the ocean and gun shots.
If you liked Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, then you will enjoy this book. It's not written in modern day language and there's more telling than showing, but otherwise an enjoyable book.
If you liked Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, then you will enjoy this book. It's not written in modern day language and there's more telling than showing, but otherwise an enjoyable book.
May 17, 2022
This was a fun listen!
April 26, 2021
A very dry read. In fact the historical overview of the pirates was almost boring!
June 7, 2021
I think Pyle envisioned this as a "Come for the pictures, stay for the prose" book. The best part is the nonfictional history of the 1600s buccaneers, but even then, the prose retains the pompous tone and the pro-colonial values (read: Imperial worshiping, puritanical, racist as fuck, and the same tired old "pirates are bad guys" delusion) that renders his account an unreliable source, similar to David Cordingly or Captain Charles Johnson. The fictional stories all feature the same cliche' hero (pure-hearted teenage boy) as many of the old pirate stories, and the girl characters are all simpering, virginal ingénues to be won by the hero after his adventure. The only stories with the remotest bit of moral complexity are "Blueskin the Pirate," "Captain Scarfield," and "The Ghost of Captain Brand."
The greatest pleasures of this book are the occasional descriptions that place you on a ship or an island, where you can briefly feel yourself bobbing over the swells or smell the brine. Pyle seems to have had that talent for description, but shied away from it in favor of sanctimony.
At this point, if you want fiction that accurately depicts pirates, you are better off watching Black Sails than reading anything from Pyle's time. I have yet to find a "pirate history" book that doesn't ignore why piracy was necessary, what the pirates of the early 1700s were fighting against, and how pirates understood things like voting, life insurance, worker's comp, and actual trickle-down economics in an age where no western nation would have touched democracy with a ten-foot bowsprit.
This book is a good fossil to add to your collection if you're into maritime/pirate stuff, though.
The greatest pleasures of this book are the occasional descriptions that place you on a ship or an island, where you can briefly feel yourself bobbing over the swells or smell the brine. Pyle seems to have had that talent for description, but shied away from it in favor of sanctimony.
At this point, if you want fiction that accurately depicts pirates, you are better off watching Black Sails than reading anything from Pyle's time. I have yet to find a "pirate history" book that doesn't ignore why piracy was necessary, what the pirates of the early 1700s were fighting against, and how pirates understood things like voting, life insurance, worker's comp, and actual trickle-down economics in an age where no western nation would have touched democracy with a ten-foot bowsprit.
This book is a good fossil to add to your collection if you're into maritime/pirate stuff, though.
June 8, 2020
The greatest strength of this book is its fantastic and incredibly well written introduction, followed by great high-seas adventure full of pirate history and not Disney fantasy.
Historical stories of well known pirates such as Captain Henry Morgan, Captain Edward Teach, aka the infamous Black Beard, and the Isla de Tortuga are the most remarkable highlights and my personal favorites.
Even though I am a huge pirate fan, from watching every episode of Black Sails on Starz, to playing Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, and now have read a handful of pirate books... the genre as a whole is starting to get on the stale side for me.
I hate to say it, but seems like fiction or non-fiction it is pretty much the same thing, over and over again.
Things such as division in class with the wealthy and the poor, slavery, alcohol glamorization, "chasing after the girl"/sex/prostitution, lots of nicknames for captains and ships alike, the thrill of the hunt for wealth/treasure, venturing out into the sea and struggling through the challenges of the voyage, and finally lots of corruption, betrayal, murder, torture, execution, dueling, all of the rest of the darker sides of humanity... these concepts are just told in different ways, with pirates of different nicknames, chasing over different treasure (revenge, buried treasure of others, or a big "prize" aka a ship full of valuable cargo).
I just feel like this can only be spun so many ways... until you just find yourself back in the same "boat" and find yourself saying... haven't I already been here before?
With all that said, I would recommend this book to pirate fans, especially over fantasy based ones.
Historical stories of well known pirates such as Captain Henry Morgan, Captain Edward Teach, aka the infamous Black Beard, and the Isla de Tortuga are the most remarkable highlights and my personal favorites.
Even though I am a huge pirate fan, from watching every episode of Black Sails on Starz, to playing Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, and now have read a handful of pirate books... the genre as a whole is starting to get on the stale side for me.
I hate to say it, but seems like fiction or non-fiction it is pretty much the same thing, over and over again.
Things such as division in class with the wealthy and the poor, slavery, alcohol glamorization, "chasing after the girl"/sex/prostitution, lots of nicknames for captains and ships alike, the thrill of the hunt for wealth/treasure, venturing out into the sea and struggling through the challenges of the voyage, and finally lots of corruption, betrayal, murder, torture, execution, dueling, all of the rest of the darker sides of humanity... these concepts are just told in different ways, with pirates of different nicknames, chasing over different treasure (revenge, buried treasure of others, or a big "prize" aka a ship full of valuable cargo).
I just feel like this can only be spun so many ways... until you just find yourself back in the same "boat" and find yourself saying... haven't I already been here before?
With all that said, I would recommend this book to pirate fans, especially over fantasy based ones.
November 12, 2023
I experienced this via the audiobook narrated by Ralph Cosham on Spotify; briefly read the written portion just for the parts regarding Blackbeard. Despite being about a topic I absolutely love, I found myself extremely bored by this book. I'm not sure if it was due to the dry, semi-monotone of the narrator or if it was due to the lack of interest in the pirate stories addressed (aside from those about Blackbeard as my attention was instantly captured by them). The book started off with a chapter of historical summary about pirates before transitioning into a series of fictional stories; while there were many well-known pirates mentioned in the historical section, the fictional stories weren't - not entirely certain whether they were real pirates or creations of the author as I wasn't familiar with their names. The historical facts presented were familiar and didn't present anything new from what I knew from other pirate history books I've read. Honestly, I considered rating this 2 stars but it got bumped up simply because of Blackbeard. Otherwise, if you are looking for a book about pirates, whether from a historical or fictional standpoint, there are better books out there to spend your time with.
September 17, 2018
The Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle is exactly that: a book about pirates. It purports to be non-fiction and doubtless much of it is. But the author admits that some of the pirate lore has been embellished and/or made up along the way. Sometimes by the pirates and sometimes by the survivors. Written in the late 1800’s, more than a century after “The Golden Age of Piracy,” this book is an attempt to preserve those bits of unofficial history that government writers and historians would rather forget. The first part of the book is a short overview with most of the rest being taken up with the telling of pirate tales. I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of the book, including the quaint style of writing. Pyle was writing for a genteel audience in the late 1800’s and so his work, while descriptive of pirate life, is also fairly sanitized and the reader will need to look between the lines on some occasions. If you like pirates, or more likely, know a boy who does, this would be a great book. The reading level here is probably 10th grade, a picture version of the book would be great to see for little kids.
January 3, 2022
A pretty decent book. The author did a good job of keeping his tone and diction accurate to the time-period that he was writing about, this exuded a authentic feeling for the reading. I enjoyed the characters and the change in subject throughout the book. Pyle is an iconic author who the likes of Disney took inspiration from, he does a great job of bringing tales from his childhood to life and making them applicable to real-life situations. Pyle uses delicate but telling words throughout the book, an example of this is "For a little time it seemed to Mainwaring that he should give it all up, but this was at once so impracticable and so quixotic that he presently abandoned it, and in time his qualms and misdoubts faded away and he settled himself down to enjoy that which had come to him through his marriage" (Pyle 209). Through this type of writing, the reader is able to connect to the book and better understand the characters. Overall this book was a good read, and aims to immerse the reader in a time that may not have been elegant, but never-the-less intriguing.
January 17, 2018
Here in lies the treasure of where we obtained all our fanciful concepts of "pirates" and "piracy." While these tales may not interest or entice the modern reader, as their pacing and action is lacking to modern taste, anyone could see how such tales and Pyle's unique illustrations directly influenced much of what we recognize today in terms of pirates' language, manners (e.g. burying treasure, murder, plundering) and dress. Highly culturally influential and worth a look, but this is not the classic read that makes "Treasure Island" so beloved.
April 5, 2018
Characters: 5/10
Plot: 7/10
Writing: 9/10
Audio: 7/10
It's hard to rate a 100-year-old book by the same standards as a modern one. The short stories had little in the way of character development, and the plots were fairly straightforward, but they were enjoyable nonetheless. I don't know how much of any of these were based in fact, but I feel that my knowledge of the world of pirates has expanded.
Plot: 7/10
Writing: 9/10
Audio: 7/10
It's hard to rate a 100-year-old book by the same standards as a modern one. The short stories had little in the way of character development, and the plots were fairly straightforward, but they were enjoyable nonetheless. I don't know how much of any of these were based in fact, but I feel that my knowledge of the world of pirates has expanded.
April 20, 2018
While it starts off a little dry, the later stories are much more engaging (and very interesting after having read Under the Black Flag). One of the things I most enjoyed about this was the folk tale quality to each of the stories. (This was even more effective listening to it as an audiobook.) I started reading it to keep me in the mood for writing about pirates, and it was a success on that front!
November 4, 2022
I’ve been reading through all of Pyle’s books and this is the one I’m struggling to review the most. He’s started out writing a non-fiction book about famous pirates, but then jumps into some historical fiction about several. The story falls flat. The fiction parts are decent enough but don’t support the overall view of the pirates and doesn’t really give an accurate historical view. The stories are interesting, but don’t really tie back to the overall picture.
May 13, 2018
here is your formula for (almost) every piece of swashbuckling fiction, namely scarred pirate captains, roguish and witty surogates, forced romance and the triumph of the just and lawful citizen whose virtue is rewarded with oh-so-fairly-gained and definitely-not-tainted-by-piracy wealth.
(curiously enough, those lawless captains rarely get to tell their own story)
(curiously enough, those lawless captains rarely get to tell their own story)
January 13, 2022
This is the first accounting of the tall tales and rumors that have captivated the listeners for centuries. A must read for those who have fallen in love with that era. The illustrations are phenomenal, and it reads like you are at the bar/pub during a rainy day and your friend is recounting a story his grandfather told him.
January 14, 2019
Some fun short stories concerning pirates and their ill-gotten gains. My favorite was the story of Captain Scarfield, it's a pretty quick read, here it is right here:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26862...
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26862...
October 27, 2019
I just love these swashbuckling stories read by Simon Vance. This was a series of short stories about various famous pirates. A good bit of entertainment on dark and stormy nights during dark and stormy Wisconsin evenings.
February 26, 2022
Gosh this book was so boring I can't think why I downloaded it. I don't even like pirates. Must have felt the need to educate myself about pirates. Wish I hadn't bothered. The death of Captain Blackbeard was impressive though.
September 20, 2017
This year's entry into my Talk Like A Pirate - Literary Version.
Overall, it is very entertaining. Stories of scurvy dog Pirates, dastardly buccaneers, and various land pirates too...
Overall, it is very entertaining. Stories of scurvy dog Pirates, dastardly buccaneers, and various land pirates too...
November 15, 2017
An interesting read. I enjoyed reading some of the pirates' tales more than others, but that's usually the case in books with multiple tales to tell.
January 3, 2018
Slow to start, then a series of short stories the are decent enough.
November 18, 2021
Excellent text and amazing illustrations.
June 14, 2022
Not the best
October 2, 2022
AN EXCELLENT book about various historical pirates. Fictional but based on facts about name and place. Lots of swash buckling heroism. Truly, a fun read that I found in my daughters bookcase.
January 23, 2023
"They wished to deprive me of my life!" is hands down my new favorite way to say "they tried to kill me."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews