Blackbeard and Other Pirates of the Atlantic Coast

by Nancy Roberts

They were bold, arrogant, brutal. They strode the rolling deck of a ship more easily than the tame streets of a town. They were wealthy―some beyond the wildest dreams of the governors and kings who first supported them, then pursued them. They were the pirates of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and they terrorized shipping lanes and coastal villages around the world. The pirates in this book sailed far and wide, but all made their mark on the Atlantic coast. Some made their home there, such as the notorious Blackbeard, who anchored his ship off Ocracoke Island and lived for a time in Bath, North Carolina. Others put ashore just long enough to change seafaring history, such as the rakish "Calico Jack" Rackham, whose chance meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, with a spirited redheaded girl would give the world another legendary pirate―the beautiful Anne Bonny. Though popular culture has created an image of a "typical" pirate, plying his trade with dash and vigor beneath his skull-and-crossbones flag, in reality these men―and women―were of character and background as varied as the flags they flew. In this collection of pirate tales, you will meet scions of colonial aristocrats like Rhode Island's Thomas Tew and the dandified Stede Bonnet of Barbados; off-spring of unassuming farm families like Pennsylvanian Rachel Wall and Massachusetts' Charles Gibbs; and those like Edward Low of England, who escaped lives of desperate poverty and squalor by putting to sea. What these men and women had in common was a yearning for excitement, a love for the seafaring life, and a taste for the wealth that piracy could provide. Romance, danger, suspense, adventure―all this and more awaits you on board the tall ships with the pirates of the Atlantic coast. Join them now for a voyage you will never forget. Nancy Roberts, a popular Southern writer and storyteller, was the acclaimed, award-winning author of more than twenty-five books where she blended suspense, mystery, and history with a talent for finding true stories of the supernatural. She was aptly proclaimed the "Custodian of the Twilight Zone" by  Southern Living  magazine, and was frequently introduced as the "First Lady of Folklore." She was a featured speaker or teller at several the North Carolina Museum of History; Thalian Hall in Wilmington, North Carolina; Kiawah Island Resort, South Carolina; University of Illinois at De Kalb; and many schools and libraries throughout the Southeast. She passed away in the fall of 2008.

Genres: History, Pirates, Nonfiction

204 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1993

Reviews

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read about 1/2 of this book. It was an easy read, but I didn’t like how the author would change her writing style. One moment, it read like a novel with thoughts and speech the pirate might have said to the next moment listing what the pirate did. I truly disliked the mixture of narrative writing with factual writing. I expected this book to be a good historical book, but I found it lacking. While the book uses Blackbeard in its title, it has one very small chapter dedicated to him, and it’s not very informative. It’s almost as though the author wanted to live off Blackbeard’s notoriety to sell her book. I was quite disappointed. It would be a good introduction to pirates perhaps for older elementary children but not for those readers wanting to learn extensive details and knowledge about Blackbeard and other pirates.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short chapters on many of the notorious pirates off the east coast. Roberts' historical research is nicely blended with narrative to make the history into story. The book's an hors d'oeuvre rather than a meal but a great way to introduce pirates to kids. It's violent (of course), but not overly gruesome.

[hyper saline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright book. Seems like it takes a lot of liberties with the interactions between people, but nobody could read or write back then so it makes sense that there's not a lot of first-hand stuff.

[Kyle Bornhorst · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the writing to be rather jumbled and hard to follow at times. It seemed to just jump into random parts of people's lives and wasn't very entertaining or informative for many of the stories.

[Randy Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, but there are no citations. I felt a lot of "license" in the telling of many of the stories.

[Matthew Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book!

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blending real quotes with made-up ones isn't a great idea.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best five dollar book. I found an antique store. There are a lot of pirates. I didn't know.

[Noah Wilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

was hoping for something more academic

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blackbeard and Other Pirates of the Atlantic Coast by Nancy Roberts is a non-fiction book about 18 different pirates along the atlantic coast. The book is about adventure across the world and the different stories of each pirate in the book.

There are 18 sections, each chapter is about a different pirate. Though Blackbeard doesn’t have one of his own sections, each pirate is linked to Blackbeard in some way. Let it be a past crew member, a past lover, or a pirate friend, the pirates in the book all lead back to Blackbeard.

The 18 pirates are; Edward Tech, Stede Bonnet, Thomas Tew, John Davis, Charles Vane, Thomas Pound, “Calico Jack” Rackham, Samuel Bellamy, William Kidd, Anne Bonny, John Redfield, Edward Low, Lewis Guitar, William Lewis, John Quelch, William Fly, Charles Gibbs, and Rachel Wall. All of these pirates are linked to Blackbeard. One example is “Calico Jack” Rackham and Anne Bonny are lovers! Anne ran away with Jack from her husband James Bonny. Jack and Anne are related because they were lovers.

Each pirate has a different story, but most of the pirates end with the same fate. Most of the stories I liked; however, all of them upset me in some way. Let it be a loved one dies or the pirates themselves die. One example of how I didn’t like the story was at the end of Anne Bonny’s story it is mysterious to what happened to Anne. This upset me but also made me wonder what happened and it gives me a picture in my mind.

This book is intriguing for anybody because it has adventure, action, and romance. It also includes men and women pirates. This gave a perspective of what it was like for women as compared to men. Overall, this book is outstanding and is wonderful for anyone!

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not at a fan of this new style of journalistic writing where the author feels as though they have to talk down to the reader by painting word pictures in the form of story telling. Roberts wasn't there - she had no idea if the wind was blowing through his course hair or if the sun shone on his bronzed body. I may be young, but I'm old school in my reading. Just the facts. Readers are smart enough to read a history book and get the jist of what's going on - we don't need floral hand holding.

The book also reads as if she was in a rush. A snippet of the pirate's childhood followed by a breath of young adulthood followed by his immediate death. Ironically, the best story was the very last one.

If you prefer the story telling style though, you may enjoy the book.

[Mallory · Rating 2 out of 5]

A selection of mini-biography sketches of famous and not-so-well-known pirates that is overall pretty forgettable. The most interesting part for me was early on in the book, learning about Thomas Tew and the utopian pirate colony of Libertatia.

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yar!

[Rick Brindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yarrrrr! Eighteen pirates' stories told here by Nancy Roberts. A good, competent introduction into the gentlemen of the seas, with more dastardly deeds than you can shake a jolly roger at!

[Beverly Hooker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book when we vacationed at Beaufort, NC. Lots of stories about the pirates of the NC Coast.