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U.S. Landmark Books #122
The Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd
This biography of the seventeenth-century New York merchant concentrates on the last six years of his life and the mission which led to his conviction and execution.
- GenresHistory
136 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1970
26 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
A.B.C. Whipple
28 books8 followersAddison Beecher Colvin Whipple was an American journalist, editor, historian and author. Before his retirement he was editor of Life's International Editions and executive editor of Time-Life Books.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 6, 2025
This book was too sad 😔. It spoiled the sad part in the first chapter! It was also kinda boring, cause why would you enjoy reading a book when you know that it’s going to turn out bad in the end?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2025
Probably my favorite Landmark so far! Such a fun read!
June 22, 2021
Sad but very interesting story. Makes you have more understanding of why the colonies broke away from England. I'm really enjoying all the Landmark titles I have read! Great series worth collecting.
January 8, 2022
The Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd by A.B.C. Whipple, now back in print from Purple House Press, is a fascinating, well-written, and beautifully illustrated account of that legendary pirate, Captain Kidd. Naturally, every time I saw the cover of the book, I’d start hearing the song “Captain Kidd” in my head:
“My name is Captain Kidd
As I sailed, as I sailed
Oh my name is Captain Kidd
As I sailed…”
(Is it stuck in your head now, too? You’re welcome.)
But I quickly learned that the song (which contained the sum total of my knowledge of Captain Kidd before this book) does not agree with Whipple’s account at all.
“My name is Captain Kidd
And God’s laws I did forbid
And most wickedly I did
As I sailed…”
According to this book, William Kidd, a respectable sea merchant, was pressed into service by the governor of New York (still a British colony at the time) and required to put to sea on a pirate-hunting mission to clean up the Indian Ocean, which was infested by pirates. Kidd was also given a license to capture any French vessels he came across, since France and Britain were at war at the time. A group of politicians agreed to finance the mission, and they were to take a large percentage of any of the money/goods that Kidd managed to capture from either the pirates or the French. Thus, Captain Kidd was a pirate hunter and a privateer—which is sort of like being a pirate, only legal.
Unfortunately for Captain Kidd, the British Navy press gangs had been going around the colonies kidnapping merchant sailors and forcing them to join the navy, so he had a difficult time recruiting sailors for his expedition and ended up with a pretty seedy lot.
“I murdered William Moore
And I left him in his gore
Twenty leagues away from shore
As I sailed…”
After a long hard voyage with very little luck finding French or pirate vessels, Kidd’s men became disgruntled. William Moore, one of the crew, led mutinies against Kidd not once but twice, and on the second occasion Kidd killed him in self-defense. (With a wooden bucket. It’s my favorite illustration in the book.) Later, Kidd finally had some luck in the privateering part of his voyage, and captured two ships that were working for France.
“To the Execution Dock
Lay my head upon the block
The laws no more I’ll mock
As I sail…”
Unfortunately for Kidd, politics in London worked against him. The syndicate of politicians who had backed him (and were expecting to receive shares of whatever he took) were accused of corruption because they would be personally enriched by piracy. So, to distance themselves from the controversy, the syndicate declared that Captain Kidd had betrayed them and become a pirate. The captains of the vessels Kidd had captured also denounced him as a pirate, neglecting to mention that they had been working for France at the time. When Kidd returned to the colonies, he gave the documents from the French ships to the governor, expecting to be exonerated. Instead, he was arrested and sent to London for a rigged trial in which he was allowed no defense counsel, and the documents from the French ships were purposely hidden. He was found guilty and hanged, a political scapegoat.
It wasn’t until 1911, after over two centuries of firmly entrenched legends about the “pirate” Captain Kidd, that a historian at the British Archives discovered the documents from the French ships, hidden during his trial, that would have proved Kidd’s innocence.
And then there’s the mystery of where Captain Kidd hid the syndicate’s share of the treasure…
“My name is Captain Kidd
As I sailed, as I sailed
Oh my name is Captain Kidd
As I sailed…”
(Is it stuck in your head now, too? You’re welcome.)
But I quickly learned that the song (which contained the sum total of my knowledge of Captain Kidd before this book) does not agree with Whipple’s account at all.
“My name is Captain Kidd
And God’s laws I did forbid
And most wickedly I did
As I sailed…”
According to this book, William Kidd, a respectable sea merchant, was pressed into service by the governor of New York (still a British colony at the time) and required to put to sea on a pirate-hunting mission to clean up the Indian Ocean, which was infested by pirates. Kidd was also given a license to capture any French vessels he came across, since France and Britain were at war at the time. A group of politicians agreed to finance the mission, and they were to take a large percentage of any of the money/goods that Kidd managed to capture from either the pirates or the French. Thus, Captain Kidd was a pirate hunter and a privateer—which is sort of like being a pirate, only legal.
Unfortunately for Captain Kidd, the British Navy press gangs had been going around the colonies kidnapping merchant sailors and forcing them to join the navy, so he had a difficult time recruiting sailors for his expedition and ended up with a pretty seedy lot.
“I murdered William Moore
And I left him in his gore
Twenty leagues away from shore
As I sailed…”
After a long hard voyage with very little luck finding French or pirate vessels, Kidd’s men became disgruntled. William Moore, one of the crew, led mutinies against Kidd not once but twice, and on the second occasion Kidd killed him in self-defense. (With a wooden bucket. It’s my favorite illustration in the book.) Later, Kidd finally had some luck in the privateering part of his voyage, and captured two ships that were working for France.
“To the Execution Dock
Lay my head upon the block
The laws no more I’ll mock
As I sail…”
Unfortunately for Kidd, politics in London worked against him. The syndicate of politicians who had backed him (and were expecting to receive shares of whatever he took) were accused of corruption because they would be personally enriched by piracy. So, to distance themselves from the controversy, the syndicate declared that Captain Kidd had betrayed them and become a pirate. The captains of the vessels Kidd had captured also denounced him as a pirate, neglecting to mention that they had been working for France at the time. When Kidd returned to the colonies, he gave the documents from the French ships to the governor, expecting to be exonerated. Instead, he was arrested and sent to London for a rigged trial in which he was allowed no defense counsel, and the documents from the French ships were purposely hidden. He was found guilty and hanged, a political scapegoat.
It wasn’t until 1911, after over two centuries of firmly entrenched legends about the “pirate” Captain Kidd, that a historian at the British Archives discovered the documents from the French ships, hidden during his trial, that would have proved Kidd’s innocence.
And then there’s the mystery of where Captain Kidd hid the syndicate’s share of the treasure…
December 20, 2023
This excellent book shows how evil the government of all times is.
Here is all the corrupt, sinful, or evil actions of the British ministers of the king:
1. They forced the unwilling Kidd into the voyage.
2. The shipbuilder, knowing he was working for the government, built shoddily.
3. The Whig ministers of the king asked for 60% of the profit, a shockingly high percentage, which approaches theft from the crew and captain alike.
4. They disguised it as a privateering, pirate-chasing voyage, to look good to the public while their actual aim was a profit.
5. They carelessly and incompotently stored rotten food, so the men began dying of scurvy.
6. They pasted a judgment on Kidd's guilt before hearing his side or even seeing him.
7. They chose slanted judges.
8. They denied him a lawyer or any time to prepare.
9. They commanded the jury to pass a guilty verdict.
10. They allowed only his arch-enemies--former mutineers condemned to die--to testify.
11. They promised them their lives if they testified against him.
12. They framed Kidd in front of Tory investigators to escape scutiny.
13. They refused to explain their precise relations to the voyage.
14. They only presented their side to the public.
15. They allowed a mutineering, pirating crew to go free for repeated crimes, rather than give any pretense to justify Kidd.
16. They hid the French passports he gave them to prove the ships he had captured were under the orders given him.
After hearing this, my blood began to boil with godly anger at the government. The Anabaptists of old said the beast of Revelation was the government. While this may seem like a wild interpretation, when one realizes that the beast wields political, magisterial, temporal, economic, and religious power, one can hardly escape that he is a governmental system without entirely spiritualizing the words so that they mean nothing.
If one's righteous ire can be raised at the unjust hanging of one middle-class merchant, how much more at our bloodthirsty governments today, who are responsible for the murders of thousands of babies each month!
Here is all the corrupt, sinful, or evil actions of the British ministers of the king:
1. They forced the unwilling Kidd into the voyage.
2. The shipbuilder, knowing he was working for the government, built shoddily.
3. The Whig ministers of the king asked for 60% of the profit, a shockingly high percentage, which approaches theft from the crew and captain alike.
4. They disguised it as a privateering, pirate-chasing voyage, to look good to the public while their actual aim was a profit.
5. They carelessly and incompotently stored rotten food, so the men began dying of scurvy.
6. They pasted a judgment on Kidd's guilt before hearing his side or even seeing him.
7. They chose slanted judges.
8. They denied him a lawyer or any time to prepare.
9. They commanded the jury to pass a guilty verdict.
10. They allowed only his arch-enemies--former mutineers condemned to die--to testify.
11. They promised them their lives if they testified against him.
12. They framed Kidd in front of Tory investigators to escape scutiny.
13. They refused to explain their precise relations to the voyage.
14. They only presented their side to the public.
15. They allowed a mutineering, pirating crew to go free for repeated crimes, rather than give any pretense to justify Kidd.
16. They hid the French passports he gave them to prove the ships he had captured were under the orders given him.
After hearing this, my blood began to boil with godly anger at the government. The Anabaptists of old said the beast of Revelation was the government. While this may seem like a wild interpretation, when one realizes that the beast wields political, magisterial, temporal, economic, and religious power, one can hardly escape that he is a governmental system without entirely spiritualizing the words so that they mean nothing.
If one's righteous ire can be raised at the unjust hanging of one middle-class merchant, how much more at our bloodthirsty governments today, who are responsible for the murders of thousands of babies each month!
December 20, 2020
I put this book on hold (thank you interlibrary loan!) because it is often gushed about in one of my book groups. It's a well-written little history book, covering the last few years of Captain Kidd's life. It's interesting without being sensational, casting light on a historical figure most of us don't know much about.
I don't know that it deserves all the praise I've seen heaped upon it (or the price tag!) but it's one I'm glad to have read, and would be pleased to read to my children.
I don't know that it deserves all the praise I've seen heaped upon it (or the price tag!) but it's one I'm glad to have read, and would be pleased to read to my children.
October 18, 2025
I recommend this book for any kid who is interested in pirates after seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It held my kids attention. I purchased it for homeschool, but I think it should be on the shelf of any children's library next to the newer books that published after the Pirate craze of the early 2000's.
December 11, 2025
What a fun adventure and a fascinating story about a real privateer. I didn’t even know what a privateer and certainly didn’t know who William Kidd was until we read this. The boys and I were so captivated by the end, we had to finish the last chapter even though our lesson plans had us finishing in the new year. Those are the best sorts of stories 🤩
February 11, 2026
Read this with my 5th grader for Geography. Well written and kept his attention, which is a big deal! He became quite passionate towards the end. Haha! It led to good discussions about people in power using their power unjustly. He also really wants a metal detector to be able to search for treasure. We definitely enjoyed it.
September 17, 2021
Such an exciting pirate…er, privateer, story! The most elusive Landmark Book! But purple house press reprinted it, it’s great!
June 1, 2025
The 1600’s- What a crazy time to be alive.
What a treacherous life for those on the sea.
Only God above knows all of the facts about this story of seeming injustice and buried treasure!
What a treacherous life for those on the sea.
Only God above knows all of the facts about this story of seeming injustice and buried treasure!
September 19, 2025
Read for homeschool prep--engaging, fun, and lots of geography tie-ins!
January 13, 2026
Read to my 4th grade daughter for geography. She enjoyed learning about Captain Kidd, maybe not the ending as much. 🤪 A lot of good information written as a living narrative. I would recommend!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews