The Life and Tryals of the Gentleman Pirate, Major Stede Bonnet

"It is said that truth is often stranger than fiction...and Major Bonnet‘s story is proof of that saying. Moss breathes life into the tale of one of history‘s most puzzling pirates. Exhaustively researched and lively as a salty sea breeze, this book succeeds in both educating and entertaining." Laura Sook Duncome, author of Pirate Women and A Pirate‘s Life for She "Moss restores Bonnet to his rightful place in the pantheon of pirate lords, warts and all. It‘s about time." -Wreck Watch Magazine How the unlikeliest of pirates came to stand among the New World‘s most notorious and successful pirates. Major Stede Bonnet was living the good life by the age of 28. Bonnet was a wealthy, well-married father of three children, and the family lived on a 400-acre estate on the lush island of Barbados. Then Bonnet had a "humor to go a-pirating," and left it all behind... An heir to an established land-owning aristocratic family in Barbados, Major Stede Bonnet enjoyed luxuries equal to those of the finest houses in London. "A Gentleman of good Reputation" and a "Master of a plentiful Fortune," he was given "the Advantage of a liberal Education," but the call of the sea-and perhaps more significantly, the push of his obligations as a father and husband-cast Major Bonnet onto an unlikely and deliberate course toward piracy. The real story of pirates of the Caribbean. Awash with myth-busting history, Moss tells the story of the real pirates of the Caribbean, sharing accounts of their daily life, social issues, natural disasters, political intrigues, bloody battles, and, of course, buried treasure, walking the plank, flying the Jolly Roger, pirate-speak and much more, all while weaving in interesting connections to the history of early colonial America. The Golden Age of Piracy. Through Bonnet‘s story, Moss introduces the most notorious of pirates, including Charles Vane, "Calico" John "Jack" Rackham, Israel Hands, Benjamin Hornigold, William Kidd, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, and the pirate to whom Bonnet would forever be connected, Edward Teach (infamously known as "Blackbeard"). Follow Major Bonnet through his improbable and exciting journey.