Real-life accounts of the world’s most notorious pirates—both men and women, from the Golden Age of Piracy and beyond—compiled by the New York Times bestselling author of A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself A Penguin Classic Spanning three centuries and eight thousand nautical miles, and compiled by a direct descendant of a sailor who waged war with pirates in the early nineteenth century, The Penguin Book of Pirates takes us behind the eye patches, the peg legs, and the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger and into the no-man’s-land of piracy that is rife with paradoxes and plot twists. Here, in a fascinating array of accounts that include trial transcripts, journalism, ship logs, and more, are the grit and patois of real maritime marauders like the infamous Blackbeard; the pirates who inspired Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean , Stede Bonnet in HBO Max’s Our Flag Means Death , and the Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride ; the astoundingly egalitarian multi-ethnic and multilingual crews that became enmeshed in historical horrors like the slave trade; and lesser-known but no less formidable women pirates, many of whom disguised themselves as men. By turns brutal, harrowing, and inspiring, these accounts of the “radically free” sailors who were citizens more of the oceangoing world than of any nation on land remind us of the glories and dangers of the open seas and the seductive appeal of communities forged in resistance. For more than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. “Thrilling. Romantic. Fascinating. And also scary . . . A picture of pirates as they really were.” — Parade “For those interested in pirates, this book is a must read. . . . Howe’s detailed account takes the reader way beyond the people and crafts of familiar Disneyesque tales. The expression ‘truth is stranger than fiction” definitely applies to piracy.” — Newport This Week Katherine Howe (editor) is a bestselling and award-winning historian and novelist who is a direct descendant of a nineteenth-century sailor who battled pirates on the high seas as well as three women who were tried for witchcraft in Salem. She is the editor of The Penguin Book of Witches ; the author of the novels A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself and The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs , the New York Times bestselling novels The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and The House of Velvet and Glass , and the young adult novels Conversion and The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen ; and the coauthor with Anderson Cooper of the New York Times bestsellers Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty and Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune . A native Houstonian, she lives and sails with her family in New England. Contents The Seventeenth Century and Before Francis Drake - Grace O’Malley - Jack Ward - Samuel Palache - William Jackson - Thomas Veal - Henry Morgan - Henry Mainwaring - Alexander Exquemelin - Henry Avery - William Kidd - Thomas Tew The Golden Age The proclamation pardoning pirates - Howell Davis - Christopher Condent - Edward “Ned” Low - Edward “Blackbeard” Teach - Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts - Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy - William Snelgrave - John Upton - Richard Luntly - Anne Bonny and Mary Reade - John Philips - Philip Ashton - William Fly - Fanny Campbell - Jose Gasper The Nineteenth Century First Barbary War - Zheng Yi Sao - Jean Laffite - Schooner Jane - The Dover - The Porpoise - The Alligator - The Belvidere - The Mary - The New Priscilla - The Friendship - The Mexican - La Amistad