Real Pirates

Meet the rogues who gave pirates their bad name. William Fly took a promotion from lowly boatswain to captain when he promised the crew untold wealth if they "turned pirate." They threw the captain of the Elizabeth overboard in the middle of the Atlantic and proceeded to pillage and plunder. Depicted in all his underhanded and dangerous glory is Captain Crabbe who ended up shipwrecked on a Caribbean island, his treasure--and his glass eye--sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

From the exploits of sixteenth-century pirates in the Caribbean to the nefarious deeds of the Corsairs in the Mediterranean, Clare Hibbert and John James have created an illustrated collection of gripping and dastardly tales from around the globe. This book tells the true tales of who the pirates were and explores along the way all the tools, ships and talents they needed for their now classic skullduggery.

A collection of true pirate tales from the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas and the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, revealing the pirates' tools, ships, and special talents.

Twenty stories about real pirates filled with facts about the true sea theives of history!

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-This title includes brief vignettes about various buccaneers along with a look at how they lived, where they sailed, and a general history of the pirate trade. The book is divided into four geographical areas-the Caribbean, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean-and each section highlights the individuals who sailed those seas. Black Bart, Blackbeard, William Kidd, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read are among the figures introduced. Information about ships and flags, life aboard the ship, and weapons and fighting techniques is interspersed throughout. Each subject is covered in three or four paragraphs along with colorful illustrations, all presented in a pleasing layout. There is no source information, making it difficult to tell how much of the text is fact and how much lore. Nonetheless, the book makes for entertaining reading. Just about every pirate featured met an ignoble end, and Hibbert does not spare readers some of the more gruesome details of their deeds. This title will appeal to browsers and just might capture the attention of reluctant readers.-Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Clare Hibbert is a freelance author and editor living in London. She has written more than 50 non-fiction books for children. Pirates and their adventures are a particular interest of hers. John James studied figurative illustration and specialized in historical reconstructions and architectural drawings for many years. He has worked on a number of non-fiction books for children, including an award-winning title on Egyptian pyramids. He lives in Britain.