The Captain’s Choice by Wren Taylor
Wales, 1707: Mona Lloyd is desperate to escape a wedding and a future with a man she doesn’t love. When she stows away on the only ship to visit her sleepy village of Ogmore-by-Sea, she learns the ship isn’t all it seems, and neither is the beautiful, aloof captain that helms it. As Mona fights for acceptance among the ship’s crew, she is also fighting a growing attraction to the alluring captain. Captain Elinor Davies promised herself she would never fall in love again. She has everything she ever dreamed of: a ship of her own, a loyal crew, and wealth beyond her wildest dreams. But when a pretty, young stowaway appears on her ship to challenge everything she holds dear, she has to choose between her responsibility to her crew and her heart’s true desire.Can the two overcome their differences and a tragic past, or is history doomed to repeat itself?…
Much admired by some, Samuel Bellamy was sometimes referred to as the Robin Hood of the sea, although there is no evidence of him giving to the poor as did the mythic hero of Sherwood Forest. Bellamy is viewed as one of the most successful pirates of his time, although his pirating career lasted little over a year. He is said to have treated captives well in comparison to many of his contemporaries, but was not averse to forcing men to serve in his crew, especially carpenters. He was apparently called Black Sam because he didn’t want to wear a wig, preferring his long black hair to flow free.…
Investigates the fascination pirates hold over popular imagination, taking the fable of ocean-going Robin Hoodsailing under the “banner of King Death” and contrasting it with the muderous reality of robbery, torture and death, and the freedom of a short, violent life on the high seas. Using previously undiscovered material from British Admiralty records, the book charts 250 years of piracy, from Cornwall to the Caribbean, from the 16th century to the hanging of the last pirate captain in Boston in 1835.
Treasure Island is the seminal pirates and buried treasure novel, which is so brilliantly concocted that it appeals to readers both young and old. The story is told in the first person by young Jim Hawkins, whose mother keeps the Admiral Benbow Inn. An old seadog, a resident at the inn, hires Jim to keep a watch out for other sailors whom he fears but, despite all precautions, the old man is served with the black spot which means death. Among the dead man’s belongings Jim discovers a map showing the location of the buried treasure of the notorious pirate Captain Flint. It is not long before he, along with Doctor Livesey and Squire Trelawney, sets sail to find the treasure. However, amongst the hired hands is the one-legged Long John Silver who has designs on the treasure for himself.