The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd - Richard Zacks

Category: Adults, Autobiography & Biographies, History
Language: English
Keywords: 1600's New York Royal Navy

Written by Richard Zacks
Read by Michael Prichard
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc.
Release date: August 19, 2008
Duration: 18:44:19

Captain Kidd has gone down in history as America’s most ruthless buccaneer, fabulously rich, burying treasure up and down the eastern seaboard. But it turns out that most everyone, from novelists to scholars, has the story all wrong.

Captain William Kidd was no career cutthroat; he was a tough, successful New York sea captain who was hired to chase pirates in the 1690s. His three-year odyssey aboard the aptly named Adventure Galley would pit him against arrogant Royal Navy commanders, jealous East India Company captains, storms, starvation, angry natives, and, above all, flesh-and-blood pirates.

Captain Kidd found himself facing a long-forgotten rogue by the name of Robert Culliford, who lured Kidd’s crew to mutiny not once but twice. Through painstaking research, author Richard Zacks has pieced together the never-before-told story of Kidd versus Culliford, of pirate hunter versus pirate, as they fought each other in an unscripted duel across the oceans of the world. One man would hang in the harbor; the other would walk away with the treasure. The Pirate Hunter delivers something rare: an authentic pirate story for grown-ups.

Publishers Weekly”… The book is cogent and replete with supporting evidence without the heavy-handed feel of some scholarly work. What really sets the book apart is Zacks’s gift as researcher and storyteller. … Aside from the tightly constructed plot, Zacks also wonderfully evokes the social and political life of the 17th century at land and at sea, and he takes turns at debunking and validating pirate folklore: while it appears the dead giveaway of a skull and crossbones made it a rare flag choice, Zacks contends that pirates did often wear extravagant clothing and were as “drunk, cursing, hungry, horny… and violent” as myth would have them. Augmented by such details and driven by a conflict between Kidd and Culliford that keeps the pages flying, Zacks’s book is a treasure, indeed. “

“…Michael Prichard’s expert delivery enhances these details, as does his spirited delivery of a pirate ditty… Prichard maintains a sense of irony as the story moves to its conclusion. This is a perfect choice for anyone who enjoys armchair adventure.”… AudioFile 2004

This is not my rip. My thanks to the original uploader who did all the work.