Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny & Mary Read

Between August and October 1720, two female pirates named Anne Bonny and Mary Read terrorized the Caribbean in and around Jamaica. Despite their short career, they became two of the most notorious pirates during the height of the eighteenth-century Golden Age of Piracy. In a world dominated by men, they became infamous for their bravery, cruelty and unwavering determination to escape the social constraints placed on women during that time. Despite their infamy, mystery shrouds their lives before they became pirates. Their biographies were recorded in Captain Charles Johnson's 1724 book, _A General History of the Pyrates_, depicting the two women as illegitimate women raised by men who, against insurmountable odds, crossed paths in Nassau and became pirates together. But how much is fact versus fiction? 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.