A General History of the Pyrates

From Their First Rise and Settlement in the Island of Providence, to the Present Time

By: Daniel Defoe

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

"I presume we need make no Apology for giving the Name of a History to the following Sheets, though they contain nothing but the Actions of a Parcel of Robbers." (From the book)

This work was published in 1724, under the pseudonym Captain Charles Johnson, by an unknown British author, usually assumed to be Daniel Defoe. This work is the prime source for the biographies of many well-known pirates of that era and shaped the popular notions about pirates of the day. Included are Blackbeard, Black Bart, Jolly Roger, Anne Bonny (aka Anne Bonn), Edward Teach, Henry Avery, Mary Read, and many more.

©2016 Daniel Defoe (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Very InterestingAccount

Really enjoyed this book. While some of the old English dialogue was a bit challenging to understand certain meanings. This was a very informative account on piracy.

A product of its time

I can't quite pinpoint what I find so fascinating about the history of piracy, but listening to the audiobook of A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe was certainly easier than slogging through the actual reading – so kudos to the narrator, John Lee, for the overall slick execution of the production. That being said, this book is very much a product of its time, and reflects the casual racism and cultural jingoism so inherent to the era and in the author's general outlook. But if you're prepared to look past this, there's a treasure trove of details about the history of piracy during the late 1700s, much of it allegedly drawn from interviews with primary sources.

If you're an author, like me, on the hunt for story seeds, there are certainly plenty to be found among the tales of awful people doing awful things. Which in my mind is pretty much a summary of what this book is about. Forget the golden glow of historical romances – the lives of pirates and indeed any sailors press-ganged into service during the 18th century – were often brutal, bloody, and short. If disease didn't carry you away, a storm might. Or a violent encounter with pirates or an enemy fleet. You'll meet cunning men and women among these pages, as well as wicked, greedy, and violent ones. The fact that the penalty for piracy was death did not deter those who sought opportunity on the high seas – no matter the cost of this dearly bought freedom.

I really don't have much more to say other than the fact that my continued research has offered me a clearer idea of the cultural mores of the era, the challenges faced in sea travel, and how far we've come as a global community compared to what things were like during the 1700s. While much of this book can be quite dry, a patient reader can glean fascinating insights about a time so vastly different from our own.

I liked the format

one pirate, one chapter. It makes listening easy. The narrator on the other hand made this a hard listen. his command of accents while reading may have seemed like a good idea. in practice it was distracting and I found it annoying to the point I stopped listening a few times.

Very Dry

This is a verbatim, of the original text written about 300 years ago, the language is old and rough, it probably wouldn't have been that bad had the performance not sound so monotone and without and cadence or rhythm as well as dry.

so glad I found this

you should be aware that despite this book having been written in an age where discussion of sexual assault was usually only done obscurely, there is one pretty disturbing explicit mention in this book that took me by surprise and deserves a content/trigger warning for sexual assault. there's also a lot of mentions of torture, some are pretty explicit. obviously we all expect this from a book about pirates but just read responsibly :)

A Vital Piece of Early Investigative Journalism

Anyone with burgeoning interest in the golden age pirates and the era in which they lived and worked should give this a listen. The language is now three hundred years old and all the more fascinating for it, providing a vital insight into how an authority of the time viewed pirates.

-One can only imagine how fascinated the people of London were by the subjects of this book, although that seems contrary to Captain Johnson's intention.

-It should be noted that the book is attributed to a Captain Charles Johnson, and that whether or not that was a pseudonym we hardly have enough evidence to authoritatively claim it was written by Daniel Defoe.

-John Lee's excellent performance provides the language with a flowing vitality.

Good book probably would’ve got a better review if I had an address, read the republic of pirates

Very good book. I enjoyed this. I had just listen to the republic of pirates, which was a little bit more entertaining. It may have been just the reader, and it was a little monotone, but there was a lot of good information at it well worth your time, and my rating would probably be higher if I didn’t listen to it following the Republic of pirates

Horrendous Waste of John Lee’s Time and Ours

This book was written in 1724 and the language used is arcane English. The book here is credited to Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe) but any quick Google search will show that the authorship of this work is very much in dispute. It supposedly recounts the true story of legendary pirates but it’s clearly full of fiction and the reader will likely see it a a simple work of an early 18th century publisher to make a buck. John Lee is one of the best narrators around, and his work has always made written pages come alive; however, with this effort, it sounds as if he’s rushing to finish the almost indecipherable script to get onto his next more meaningful work. Sadly this book is a total waste of his time and ours,

like paint drying

This book reads as if it was taken from captain logs. it was detailed and to the extent that it was brutal to get through. i feel bad for leaving such a negative review but this was torture