Great Pirate Stories is a collection of extracts of tales of pirates (whether fictional or not - there is no clear indication which are and aren't, you would have to look up each original book for that!). The tales range in dates from as early as 1621 to the 19th Century, which results in the use of a great range of styles of English language (the 1621 account might be a little difficult to read for some due to the more arbitrary use of grammar and spelling of the time).

Each extract gives a snippet of a particular encounter with pirates, whether from the pirate's perspective and standpoint or that of their victims or onlookers to the events. Each account is short and wets the appetite for more story before suddenly ending - I'm in half a mind to track down each of the original books for more details.

Some accounts are quite intriguing and bring to mind a number of questions about the content (anything from the realism to the accuracy could be questioned down to the motives and what exactly did happen next)...

This book does not confine itself to European-based pirates (wherever they then roamed), but also brings out accounts of Chinese, Malay and various other less well-known pirate groups (at least less well-known to me, having done little studies of the topic). Some pirate names are quite familiar though, such as Barbarossa or Morgan.

If you have an interest in pirates and pirate stories, this book is a good little gem that'll unearth other gems for you. (Carole's Reviews)