Audiobook · read by volunteers
Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts
Frank R. Stockton (1834–1902)
Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015), Esther, Kevin McAsh, Sandra in Wales, United Kingdom, Gesine, Aaron Teiser, Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023), Bruce Stafford, Michelle Crandall, Linda Wilcox · 32 chapters · 7 h 15
About the book
Before the movies, there were the real buccaneers, and Frank R. Stockton tells their story with the flair of a born storyteller. Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts is a history of how piracy took root and spread across the Caribbean and beyond, in the wake of Spanish colonial plunder. Thirty-two chapters introduce bold captains, cruel masters, daring raids and a few unexpected career changes, from the first bold buccaneers to the pupils who learned from them. The narrative moves briskly and doesn’t hide its relish for the dramatic. It is non-fiction, but it reads like adventure. Ten volunteers share the reading across more than seven hours, so the voices change as often as the ships do. If you like true stories of the sea, here is a lively voyage through a lawless age.
Introduction
Frank R. Stockton, who lived from 1834 to 1902, was an American writer and editor, remembered above all for his short story The Lady, or the Tiger?, which ends on a famous unanswered question. Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts is a very different book, a work of popular history from the late 1890s, aimed at a general audience. Stockton wrote it with considerable dramatic flair, treating the history of piracy as the sort of subject that deserved a good story.
The book explains how piracy began and expanded across the Caribbean region, as a response to the plundering carried out under Spanish colonialism. It follows buccaneers and privateers, such as the men who became masters of the trade, and shows how they gradually pushed north along the coasts of America. Readers who are used to modern, more critical histories will recognise that its sources and attitudes belong to the end of the nineteenth century, but the narrative remains lively, and the details of ports, islands and hideaways are fascinating.
The recording is divided into thirty-two chapters, and the total length is about seven hours. A group of ten LibriVox volunteers, including Denny Sayers, Esther and Kevin McAsh, share the reading. If you would like to read along, the text is illustrated by an antique map of the Caribbean, which is a very useful companion for following the voyages. It is a solid, entertaining start for anyone curious about the real history behind pirate legends. Whether you are interested in maritime history, in the Caribbean, or just in a good yarn, the combination of facts and storytelling makes the long run of chapters easy to follow.
Public domain
Frank R. Stockton died in 1902: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text