Return to Treasure Island and the Search for Captain Kidd: The Discovery of a Long-Lost Pirate Ship in the Indian Ocean

by Barry Clifford, Paul Perry

The fascinating, unbelievable story behind Barry Clifford’s discovery of the long-lost treasure ship— the Adventure Galley—of the world’s most fabled pirate, Captain Kidd. With larceny in his heart, Captain William Kidd and a band of pirates sailed to the Indian Ocean on the Adventure Galley, a ship built specially for piracy. But months later, Kidd found himself with a ship on the verge of sinking, and his crew members threatening mutiny. With the Adventure Galley filling rapidly with water, Kidd ordered her to the tiny island of Sainte Marie off the coast of Madagascar. Soon thereafter, Kidd’s beloved ship sank in the harbor, disappearing beneath the waves never to be seen again…Until 302 years later, when undersea explorer Barry Clifford arrived to uncover the ship’s secrets.

Genres: Nonfiction, Pirates, History, Travel, Classics, Adventure, Nautical

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Emily Woodbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another page turner from Barry Clifford and Paul Perry. With a great mix of history and archaeological drama, it feels like you are there on Pirate Island with them. A great pick for my first read of the new year!

[Nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

The weakness of this book is probably the subject at hand. Captain Kidd, for all the interest in his character, is really not much of an exciting figure. The only aspect that leads to his romantic imagery is merely the fact as to whether or not he did in fact bury gold, and if so where. As the author Clifford himself writes, Kidd was far from pirate material, and his lacking as a true pirate captain and his indecision between being a privateer (as he was hired to be) and being a true pirate as well as his arrogance is what led to his downfall. For those interested in reading stories about true piracy, do not look here.

The other matter, the excavation of the site itself, is crammed into a few pages at the very end. The red-tape bureaucratic difficulties the team dealt with that impended the excavation of the site for Captain Kidd's first ship, Adventure Galley, is not exactly exciting to read about. The realism of the frustration, if anything, although giving credit to Clifford as a writer, does little for the reader. Instead, the reader is too filled with irritation that once again red-tape matters is slowing down the uncovering of important history.

The only thing that does make this all very interesting is the revealing of Kidd's true self: as a sort of weak-willed man whose greed and arrogance were such a flaw to him that it cost his very life. But in the way that reading how a great villain is in fact rather weak, it's a bit of a letdown either way.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read for someone fascinated with underwater archaeology, ship wrecks and the drama of excavation permits.

[Shane Kanode · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, not an overly exciting story, but still good.

[Sandra]

This book is well worth the time to read and very interesting. I am not even interested in pirate stories so you know this book is great.

[Adelbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story told in a fast moving and interesting fashion. Good for Barry Clifford, he did not disappoint!

[Susan Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and true adventure. Clearly speaks of the way a search progresses and the many obstacles along the way , permits, etc

[Eric Mayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, I miss archaeology. Also, man I do NOT miss archaeology. Also, I should have been a marine archaeologist but ALSO, I should have been a pirate.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read on shipwrecks and archaeology.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 2 out of 5]

"with Paul Perry."

Slight effort about attempt to recover Kidd's flagship from a real-life "Pirate Island" is basically a high-level overview of Kidd's career intertwined with Clifford's misadventures in looking for the ship with few results. Superficial and ultimately disappointing effort left me questioning if this was really enough to be a stand-alone book; it would have made a decent National Geographic article.

See my review of The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd which was also disappointing. There seems to be a dearth of serious scholarship in this area.

[Terrance Zepke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. Having done a great deal of research on Captain Kidd while writing Pirates of the Carolinas I found the information was valid and comprehensive. Also, I enjoyed the way Clifford shifted between his shipwreck expedition and the exploits of Kidd. I enjoyed it alot and even learned a thing or two I didn't know about Kidd and all that's involved in salvaging shipwrecks.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The real story here is the difficulties Clifford encounters in trying to do his job - the constant obstruction and logistical challenges give the behind-the-scenes story you never see on the Discovery Channel.

[Steve Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

More about the difficulties of government permitting and the politics of treasure hunting. The book is well written and a quick and easy read that goes a long way in shedding a truer light on the character William Kidd.