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 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.

From a  New York Times-bestselling author comes this daring account of one woman’s adventure among the most feared sea rovers of all time, perfect for fans of Kate Mosse and Jess Kidd

‘An absolute page turner, full of unexpected twists and turns.’ Celia Rees, author of Pirates!

 She was one of the most terrifying seafarers of all time. This is her story.

The Golden Age of Piracy is drawing to a close when Hannah Masury watches the public hanging of the infamous William Fly in a Boston town square. Rumours about the location of Fly’s buried treasure are rampant, and when Hannah finds a clue as to where it might be hidden, she decides it’s time to take the future into her own hands.  

Two centuries later in a dusty university archive, Professor Marian Beresford is captivated by Hannah’s story and the many unanswered questions she left behind. Hannah was determined to take her secrets with her to the grave, but in Marian, she might finally have met her match.  

A True Account is the page-turning story of two women from two very different worlds, both shattering the rules of their own society, both willing to risk everything to forge their own adventure.  

‘A feast for the sea-loving senses.’ Sarah Penner, author of The Lost Apothecary

From New York Times-bestselling author Katherine Howe comes this daring account of one woman’s adventure as one of the most feared sea rovers of all time, perfect for fans of Kate Mosse and Jess Kidd

‘An absolute page turner, full of unexpected twists and turns.’ Celia Rees, author of Pirates!

In Boston, as the Golden Age of Piracy comes to a bloody close, Hannah Masury – bound into service at a waterfront inn since childhood – is ready to take her life into her own hands. When  William Fly  is hanged for piracy in the town square, the teenage Hannah is watching. Forced to flee for her life, Hannah disguises herself as a cabin boy and joins the pitiless crew of another notorious real-life pirate, Edward “Ned” Low. To earn her freedom and finally change the tide of her own future, Hannah must hunt down  William Fly’s lost treasure.

Meanwhile in 1930, Professor Marian Beresford pieces this bewitching story together, seeing her own lack of freedom reflected back at her as she watches Hannah’s transformation. At the centre of Hannah Masury’s account,  however, lies a centuries-old mystery that Marian is determined to solve. It soon becomes clear that Hannah was once just as determined to take this secret to her grave.

A True Account  tells the unforgettable, interleaved stories of two women in different worlds, both shattering the rules of their own society, both daring to risk everything to go  forge their own adventure.

‘A feast for the sea-loving senses.’ – Sarah Penner, author of The Lost Apothecary