Pirates & Privateers: Sam Taplin's Books

If ye be wanting to be a pirate, this book is for ye! Five chapters provide you with just about everything you needs to know to go on the account, including how not to be a pirate. Stormface and Fingers cover the perks and the perils, the rules, how to talk like a pirate, who’s who on board the ship and what they do, symbols found on Jolly Rogers, how to trick your prey and attack them, the hazards of being a pirate, food and drink, and going ashore. They also introduce you to those rogues who deserve a pirate’s respect – men like Blackbeard and Morgan, or women like Ann Bonny and Mary Read.

Diagrams explain the parts of a ship and the sails. The colorful, and sometimes humorous, captions provide extra details that will leave you with something to think about before you decide to set sail. There’s a quick guide to pirate ships, as well as an index to help you find what ye seek.

This handbook is akin to a treasure chest of gold doubloons and silver pieces of eight! Stormface and Fingers pull no punches, but the gritty truth is delivered with taste. If I have any reservations about this book, it is that it is written for boys. Except for the two pages on women pirates, which come near the end, there is no indication that daring and bold females sailed the seven seas. It’s also important to remember the subtitle of this book, for it refers to the pirates of the buccaneering and golden ages of piracy (1650-1730). These reservations aside, Pirate’s Handbook is an excellent guide for younger pirates not yet ready for books like Benerson Little’s The Sea Rover’s Practice. It’s great fun, too!