Great Pirate Stories

Written by Joseph Lewis French

Narrated by LibriVox Community

Piracy embodies the romance of the sea at its highest expression. It isa sad but inevitable commentary on our civilization, that, so far as thesea is concerned, it has developed from its infancy down to a century orso ago, under one phase or another of piracy. If men were savages onland they were doubly so at sea, and all the years of maritimeadventure--years that added to the map of the world till there waslittle left to discover--could not wholly eradicate the piratical germ.It went out gradually with the settlement and ordering of the far-flungBritish colonies. Great Britain, foremost of sea powers, must becredited with doing more both directly and indirectly for the abolitionof crime and disorder on the high seas than any other force. But theconquest was not complete till the advent of steam which chased thesea-rover into the farthest corners of his domain. It is said that hesurvives even today in certain spots in the Chinese waters,--but he iscertainly an innocuous relic. A pirate of any sort would be as great acuriosity today if he could be caught and exhibited as a fabulousmonster.(Summary from text)

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

Joseph Lewis French

Joseph Lewis French (1858–1936) was a novelist, editor, poet and newspaper man. The New York Times noted in 1925 that he may be "the most industrious anthologist of his time." He is known for his popular themed collections, and published over twenty-five books between 1918 and his death in 1936.[3] He founded two magazines, The New West (c. 1887) and The Wave (c. 1890). Afterwards he worked for newspapers "across the country" contributing poetry and articles. He struggled financially, and in 1927 the New York Graphic, a daily tabloid, published an autobiographical article they convinced him to write, entitled "I'm Starving – Yet I'm in Who's Who as the Author of 27 Famous Books." (Wikipedia)