This first full-length biography about Anne Bonny and Mary Read explores their intriguing backgrounds while examining the social context of women in their lifetime and their legacy in popular culture that exists to the present day. Using A General History of the Pyrates, early modern legal documents relating to women, their recorded public trial in The Tryal of Jack Rackham and Other Pyrates, newspapers and new, uncovered research, this book unravels the mysteries and legends surrounding their lives.

This is the story of how pirates became popularly viewed as “Robin Hoods of the Sea”—and how these historical events were pivotal in creating the portrayal of pirates as we know them today.

In this book, historian Rebecca Simon dives into the details of the two-year manhunt for Captain Kidd and the events that ensued.