Audiobook9 hours
Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas
Written by Laura Sook Duncombe
Narrated by Hillary Huber
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
In the first-ever Seven Seas history of the world's female buccaneers, Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas tells the story of women, both real and legendary, who through the ages sailed alongside-and sometimes in command of-their male counterparts. These women came from all walks of life but had one thing in common: a desire for freedom. History has largely ignored these female swashbucklers, until now. Here are their stories, from ancient Norse princess Alfhild and warrior Rusla to Sayyida al-Hurra of the Barbary corsairs; from Grace O'Malley, who terrorized shipping operations around the British Isles during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I; to Cheng I Sao, who commanded a fleet of four hundred ships off China in the early nineteenth century.
Author Laura Sook Duncombe also looks beyond the stories to the storytellers and mythmakers. What biases and agendas motivated them? What did they leave out? Pirate Women explores why and how these stories are told and passed down, and how history changes depending on who is recording it. It's the most comprehensive overview of women pirates in one volume and chock-full of swashbuckling adventures that pull these unique women from the shadows into the spotlight that they deserve.
Author Laura Sook Duncombe also looks beyond the stories to the storytellers and mythmakers. What biases and agendas motivated them? What did they leave out? Pirate Women explores why and how these stories are told and passed down, and how history changes depending on who is recording it. It's the most comprehensive overview of women pirates in one volume and chock-full of swashbuckling adventures that pull these unique women from the shadows into the spotlight that they deserve.
Related to Pirate Women
Related audiobooks
Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny & Mary Read Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pirate World: A History of the Most Notorious Sea Robbers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Domina: The Women Who Made Imperial Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl Explorers: The Untold Story of the Globetrotting Women Who Trekked, Flew, and Fought Their Way Around the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoyal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women Who Fly: Goddesses, Witches, Mystics, and other Airborne Females Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Duchess Countess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pirate Queen: A Story of Zheng Yi Sao Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unabashed Women: The Fascinating Biographies of Bad Girls, Seductresses, Rebels and One-of-a-Kind Women Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Warriors, Witches, Women: Mythology's Fiercest Females Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roaring Girls: The forgotten feminists of British history Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Witch Hunt: A Traveler's Guide to the Power and Persecution of the Witch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Women Ruled the World: Making the Renaissance in Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stories of Women in the Middle Ages Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pirates: A New History, from Vikings to Somali Raiders Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Female Husbands: A Trans History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women: An Inside Look at Women & Sex in Medieval Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Girls from History: Wicked or Misunderstood? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Biography & Memoir For You
Twisted Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Blood and Ash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divine Rivals: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If He Had Been with Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Multi-Voice, A: The Bad Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Sematary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When No One Is Watching: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Girls Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Five Years: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ivy League Counterfeiter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Pirate Women
Rating: 3.787878763636364 out of 5 stars
4/5
66 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very interesting alternative history about women pirates and their periods in history. This book also explores the wider role of women in society and the reasons why these pirate women are not as well known as their male counterparts.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Unserious and it will waste your time. At the very beginning the authore states that she didn’t bother herself woth “fact-checking” and that she is here to “tell a story”. I cought a couple of historical errors and was worried throughout that I’m learning false facts for the sake of her ego. She didn’t establish the definition of piracy early on so prepare to learn a lot about female rulers who had a navy if their own. And that’s just a tip of the ice-berg.
Don’t be like me and waste your time on this - skip it and read something better. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well researched. Loses some attraction in last 5 minutes though
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very thoughtful and well researched, this book was a pleasure to listen to. I greatly appreciated that the author was very careful to admit when she wasn't sure of a story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Captivating and Educational, I loved every moment of it. inspired me to tell the story of female badass pirates.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you're looking for pirate stories this is not the book for you. This is a more scholarly look into female pirates, both real and fictional, and how their stories have been portrayed. The author lays out the facts without embellishment and makes sure to tell you to take history with a pinch of salt because it's often than not written in a biased point of view (specifically by men).
I picked this book to read expecting it to be about real life female pirates and it was to a certain extent, but it was also much more. Some of the pirates discussed were completely fictional and some can't really be called pirates at all (with some not even setting foot on a ship!), but they were all interesting to read. The author adds context to these womens' lives by discussing their quality of life, their country's history, the circumstances behind their criminal career, and just how biased the men might have been when recording their life and crimes. Without even knowing it she teaches you so much history and geography in the guise of learning about these women's stories. Well worth the read. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting enough to definitely hold one’s attention for its shortish duration, though it is a fairly shallow dive into the subject overall. The last two chapters in particular felt a bit out of place and much worse in their commentary/analysis.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pirate Women is a highly researched book about women pirates. The book is very interesting and informative. Its downfall, however, is the lengthy chapter about women in movies. As a woman, I find this entire chapter having nothing whatsoever to do with the history of women pirates and is quite tedious. Consequently, the rating of only three stars in this review.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I would agree with other reviews that overtime the author trying to make everything into an argument for her feminism cause is getting a bit tiresome. The beginning on the book seemed better and fairly well researched. Not sure if it was me getting tired of her, or the quality dropping but it dragged towards the end.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An engaging glimpse at the frustrations of untold histories and the lengths we must go to fill in the gaps. This is a postmodern history, so don't expect a stereotypical tome. The chapter on Sister Ping was the most provocative. Seriously, more pirate movies featuring women!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a nonfiction look at female pirates throughout history. I loved learning about the incredibly strong women who overcame everything from being sold in marriage to rape and became sea-faring warriors instead. Grace O'Malley was one of my favorites and I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when she met Queen Elizabeth in person. The Chinese pirate, Ching Shih, was another amazing one and is considered the most successful pirate in history. The author gets side tracked at times, discussing film summaries and the slant that male historians have given to these women's stories. She also focuses on a few fictional pirates, which I could have skipped.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This non-fiction title recounts the stories of female pirates both real and fictional from the ancient Mediterranean to the twentieth century. I finished the book with really mixed feelings about it and thus this review is more of a pros and cons list.Pros:-Duncombe takes an intersectional feminist approach to this history, which is lovely to see.-The women highlighted here are fascinating and worthy of broader awareness.-Awesome lady pirates!Cons:-Duncombe states herself she's not an historian and it shows in spots.-Some passages which are labelled as context turn out to be extensive digressions.-Duncombe treats both real and fictional/folklore lady pirates identically, making it difficult to differentiate between them without flipping back.-The final chapter on women pirates in cinema is pretty weak, focused exclusively on Hollywood film (although she drops tantalizing hints about Italian female-led pirate films in the 1950s), and ends up being a rant about the lack of female-led films, which is a rant I understand but not what I came for to a book about women pirates. Not the best final note for the book.Ultimate verdict, worth picking up but you may want to skim bits and I'd skip the final chapter altogether.