Women Pirates: A Brief Anthology of Thirteen Notorious Female Pirates

Charlotte de Berry, who sought vengeance for the flogging death of her husband; Fanny Campbell, who sailed her way to South America as a teenager; Danish beauty Alwida, who chose a life of piracy over marriage to a prince—these are just a few of the scandalous sirens who refused lives of privilege and refinement to become she-devils of the sea.

In this thrilling and adventuresome guide, F. O. Steele takes us back to the thirteenth century and introduces us to thirteen of the world’s most famous—and infamous—female pirates. When the mere act of smuggling a girl on board a ship resulted in punishment by death, these women brazenly wore pants, wielded swords, and took the gold for themselves.

As bad as (and sometimes worse than!) their male counterparts, women pirates broke the rules of society and the laws of the sea as they stole, cursed, and swashbuckled their way into history. Here, Steele tells their stories and delivers a brief and fascinating overview of piracy, a definition of pirate terms, and a great selection of resources for learning more about these and other beautiful and brutal thieves of yesteryear.