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Pirates : Truth and Tale Hardcover – February 15, 2017

by Helen Hollick (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 29 ratings
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The historian R. H. Tawney famously wrote, ‘The sixteenth century lives in terror of the tramp.’ The eighteenth century lived in terror of the tramps of the seas – pirates. Pirates have fascinated people ever since.It was a harsh life for those who went ‘on the account’, constantly overshadowed by the threat of death – through violence, illness, shipwreck, or the hangman’s noose. The lure of gold, the excitement of the chase and the freedom that life aboard a pirate ship offered were judged by some to be worth the risk. Helen Hollick explores both the fiction and fact of the Golden Age of piracy, and there are some surprises in store for those who think they know their Barbary Corsair from their boucanier. Everyone has heard of Captain Morgan, but who recognises the name of the aristocratic Frenchman Daniel Montbars? He killed so many Spaniards he was known as ‘The Exterminator’.The fictional world of pirates, represented in novels and movies, is different from reality. What draws readers and viewers to these notorious hyenas of the high seas? What are the facts behind the fantasy?
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    328 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Amberley Publishing
  4. Publication date
    February 15, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    6.14 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1445652153
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1445652153
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Helen Hollick has it all! She tells a great story, and gets her history right.'--Bernard Cornwell

About the Author

Helen started writing as a teenager. Published in the UK with her Arthurian Trilogy and two Saxon novels, she was selected by US publisher, Sourcebooks, and became a USA Today bestseller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures with a touch of fantasy, and are inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She is the founder of Discovering Diamonds, a review blog for historical fiction, and lives in Devon.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amberley Publishing (February 15, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1445652153
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1445652153
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.33 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 1.2 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 29 ratings

About the author

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Helen Hollick

Helen Hollick

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Hello, welcome to my Amazon Author Page. I am Helen Hollick a USA Today bestselling author. My website is https://helenhollick.net/ where you will find my latest news and how to subscribe to my newsletter. Thank you so much if you were kind enough to click the 'follow' button above. Your support is very much appreciated.

Please do consider leaving a review or comment for any or all of my books.

About me and my books:

I moved from London to Devon in January 2013 (in the snow!) to live in an18th Century farmhouse with thirteen acres of land. I live with my husband, adult daughter and son-in-law, several pets (dogs, cats, hens, geese, four horses, three Exmoor ponies, two pigs) and a few friendly ghosts.

I write historical fiction, getting to the nuts and bolts of the 'what might have really happened' story of King Arthur in my PENDRAGON'S BANNER Trilogy. There is no Merlin, no Lancelot, knights in armour, round table or holy grail - just the story of a warlord who has to fight hard for his kingdom and even harder to keep it.

Book One - The KINGMAKING

Book Two - PENDRAGON'S BANNER

Book Three - SHADOW OF THE KING

(these are also published in German)

'Helen Hollick has it all! She tells a great story, gets her history right and writes consistently readable books!' (Bernard Cornwell)

My Saxon Series - HAROLD THE KING (I AM THE CHOSEN KING is the US title) and its prequel, A HOLLOW CROWN (The FOREVER QUEEN is the US title) tells the story of the twilight years of Anglo-Saxon England immediately before the Norman Conquest. Stripping the Norman propaganda from what we think we know of that most famous date in English history - 1066 and the Battle of Hastings - my novels portray all the honour and dignity that history remembers of its fallen heroes and heroines.

With eight other inspiring authors, I am a co-author of 1066 TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, a selection of 'what if alternative' stories about the year 1066.

I also contributed a short story about the pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read to a free anthology with the theme of BETRAYAL.

To balance the 'serious' books I have my SEA WITCH VOYAGES: pirate-based adventure fantasy. The Voyages are a blend of Sharpe, Hornblower and Indiana Jones all stowed in the one boat.

Voyage One - SEA WITCH

Voyage Two - PIRATE CODE

Voyage Three - BRING IT CLOSE

Voyage Four - RIPPLES IN THE SAND

Voyage Five - ON THE ACCOUNT

Voyage Six - GALLOWS WAKE

And a novella short read: WHEN THE MERMAID SINGS - how Jesamiah Acorne became a pirate.

This title has received a BRONZE AWARD for the Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year Award 2022

Several of my books have been awarded the B.R.A.G Medallion and CHILL WITH A BOOK awards.

"In the sexiest pirate contest, Captain Jesamiah Acorne gives Jack Sparrow a run for his money" (Sharon Penman)

If you liked the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies and enjoy a good sailor's yarn, then in the words of author Elizabeth Chadwick "You'll love this to pieces of eight".

My latest venture is branching out into the 'cosy mystery' genre with my library assistant 'Jan Christopher Mysteries' series set in the 1970s. The first two being A MIRROR MURDER and A MYSTERY OF MURDER with episode 3 A MISTAKE OF MURDER scheduled for spring 2023.

I have two NON-FICTION books: PIRATES TRUTH and TALES, a lighthearted look at the truth and the tales about pirates, published by Amberley Press, and SMUGGLERS IN FACT and FICTION - again exactly what the title says!

***

I run several blogs, including one for our village of Chittlehamholt and my own 'Let Us Talk of Many Things'. https://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.com/

I am a member of the Society of Authors, The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and the Crime Writers Association (CWA)

I enjoy hearing from readers. You can contact me via my website

( or email me on: author AT helenhollick DOT net )

'Lege Feliciter' (read happily)

Helen

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
29 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

cb
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for pirate lovers
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2019
Pirates: Truth and Tales is an engaging, unvarnished look at pirates and piracy. Everyone loves a pirate yarn, but this work take us beyond the swashbuckling myths of Hollywood to reveal who these men, and women, were, where they roamed, and the realities of “going on the account.” The usual suspects are included: the fascinating Calico Jack (my favourite), Blackbeard, Woodes Rogers, and even Captain Morgan (who was more than a figure on a rum bottle), as well as lesser-known (to me, at least) pirates such as Dampier. I particularly enjoyed learning about historical pirate havens, like Tortuga and Port Royal, and discovering the surprising number of women engaged in piracy, from all ages, including Aethelflaed! Helen Hollick uses numerous literary references to contrast and collaborate the historical record. Spending time with this book was like gathering around the fire listening to your favourite storyteller. Pirates is an entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable account, perfect for all pirate fans. Highly recommended!
I received a paperback copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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Wilma Lettings
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent fact and fiction on Pirates
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2018
"Pirates: Truth and Tales" by Helen Hollick is a marvellous book about Pirates. As historian and writer of many historical Pirate books Hollick knows her subject matter, and it shows.
The book starts with time tables and chapters on frequent mis-perceptions of Pirate Life, such as the romantisation of Pirates as adventurers rather than thieves and terrorists.
Hollick intersperses her chapters on all aspects of pirates with excerpts from her own novels, which illustrate her otherwise more factual writing.
From particular pirates, historical figures and events to pirate laws and habits, the author covers pretty much everything I could have thought of.
With its delightful blend of fiction and fact the book is as entertaining as it is informative.
Having attended some lectures on Pirates as part of a Literature festival and the Welsh Year of the Sea, I can commend Helen for her knowledge and as reader I must applaud her ability of concise and engaging writing. Hugely enjoyable.
One person found this helpful
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Jessica Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars Truth, perception or fiction?
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2017
Our view of pirates is either deep romance in a Frenchman's Creek way, comedic romp as in Pirates of the Caribbean, or of vicious and angry young men storming oil tankers as in the film Captain Phillips. Helen Hollick shows us that this view is flawed and why it is flawed. Using her deep knowledge of the subject gained no doubt from researching her Sea Witch series, she uses an accessible style to unpack this conundrum.
If you want to now the truth about the Golden Age of piracy, read this.

Why haven't I given it five stars? Firstly, the price of the ebook is far too high. Secondly, the author is let down by a lack of editing, which is fully the responsibility of the publisher. A pity, as this would otherwise have the potential to sell thousands and thousands.
2 people found this helpful
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ProofProfessorPublications
2.0 out of 5 stars Good writing but editorially very poor
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2017
*Out of courtesy, the author and the publisher (Amberley) were both contacted before this review was posted, but neither responded.*

This book contains 249 errors of spelling, grammar, syntax and punctuation. The errors begin on the copyright page and increase a few pages later in the Timeline where ‘Hans Sloan’ should be ‘Hans Sloane’ (p10). Here is a summary, with examples, of what this reader found:

- in the Timeline (p10) 1685 comes before 1684.
- there are straightforward spelling mistakes: hansome (> handsome, p32); yeilded (> yielded, p34); rum and coke (> rum and Coke, p83); acolade (> accolade, p147).
- many proper names are incorrect: Isle of White (p268), You Tube (p283), Kings Lynn (p250), Kiera Knightly (p244).
- verbs don’t agree with their subject in terms of singular and plural: ‘the ship were in northern waters’ (p233); ‘The delight of this adventure story are…’ (p194); ‘Anne’s name and gender was widely known’ (p105).
- plurals follow an indefinite article: ‘an East Indiamen’ (p144), and follow a singular demonstrative pronoun: ‘at the back of this books’ (p259).
- there is consistent misunderstanding of how the hyphen is used to clarify meaning.
- ‘off’ and ‘of’ are confused (p164), as well as homonyms such as ‘principle’/‘principal’.
- apostrophes are misplaced and incorrectly reversed.
- perfectly spelled words are nevertheless wrongly used to create an error: ‘as the ship goers down’ (p43), ‘[a] solution was set in placer’ (p177).
- sometimes there is no spacing between words: ‘July1726’ (p284).
- the author twice misquotes the title of the book as ‘Pirates: Truth and Tale’ (p202, p319; the cover image on Amazon incorrectly shows ‘Tale’), as well as styling one of her publishers, SilverWood as ‘Silverwood’ (p318).

I'm grading it 4* for the writing, and 1* for editing/proofreading.

So who is at fault here, for the 249 errors? I have to conclude that the author, who is probably the number one authority on pirates and their world (and who certainly writes with great gusto), has been very badly let down by Amberley, the publishers. Surely it does not reflect well on the author’s knowledge if the book prints the very well-known ‘Mary Celeste’ as ‘Marie Celeste’ (p18; a mistake also made by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1884) and the equally well-known ‘Judge Jeffreys’ as ‘Judge Jeffries’ (p10).

The experience of reading this book only reinforces this reviewer’s opinion that (semi-)mainstream publishers now put very little time (and presumably money) into getting the author’s text even close to being accurate and readable before publication, and thus have abandoned the role they traditionally played of ensuring that the author’s usually very hard work is presented in the best possible way.

On page 93 the author states: ‘My favourite desert is rum and raisin ice cream’. Editorially, one can laugh or one can cry.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

louise wheatley
5.0 out of 5 stars love the book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2024
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great book love it
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Read
Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2019
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Helen Hollick has a very relaxed style of writing. Her book has been well-researched and is presented in a very easy-to- read manner. Time periods are clearly outlined in relation to other events occurring at the same time in Europe and North America. A Glossary of Terms, all very "piratey", only adds to the enjoyment of this book. Some readers might enjoy them but I found her insertion of parts of her own novels within the pages to be unnecessary.
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cjane
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Australia on October 4, 2019
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Enjoyed pirates Helen hollick great writer thank you jx
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Bill Page
5.0 out of 5 stars A mine of fascinating information.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
Pirates Truth and Tales is a highly entertaining mine of fascinating information about all things piratical in (principally, but not exclusively) the so-called Golden Age of piracy, which spanned the late 17th to the early 18th centuries in the Caribbean and along the eastern seaboard of what was to become the USA.

Among many other things, the book gives biographies of the well-known (and less well-known) pirates and privateers of the era, and shows what a colourful but generally deeply unpleasant lot they were. Some were downright psychopaths.Others, like William Dampier, the rescuer of Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) and the first Englishman to explore part of Australia, were men of extraordinary ability.

You can read it from cover to cover, or dip into it for nuggets of information about all sorts of pirate related subjects, such as: the constant labour required to keep a wooden sailing ship seaworthy, the different flags that various pirates flew (not all skull and crossbones), medicines of the age (horrible and useless), seamen's superstitions, sea shanties of the period (some rather rude), the history of rum and methods of production, and the fledgling tobacco industry (a cargo worth stealing, if there were no Spanish galleons to be had). And lots, lots more.
3 people found this helpful
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A. J. Bishop
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellently Done.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book was excellent for what it is.
The amount of careful research, clarification and side notes as well as extracts from stories were refreshing to go through after reading some of the other 'histories' of the Pirates that seemed to try and gloss over the best and the worst of it.
Gave me great motivation to go read the authors other works and so far i'm disappointed.
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