Audiobook Sample
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- Title: Great Pirate Stories
- Author: Joseph Lewis French
- Narrator: LibriVox Volunteers
- Length: 08:47:59
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 01/01/2016
- Publisher: LibriVox
- Genre: History, World
- ISBN13: SABLIB9782722
As I settled into my favorite armchair with a cup of oolong tea, the opening strains of “Great Pirate Stories” transported me back to my graduate school days at Harvard, where I first became fascinated with how cultures romanticize their historical outlaws. This LibriVox production of Joseph Lewis French’s anthology offers a compelling audio journey through the golden age of piracy, though modern listeners should approach it with both scholarly curiosity and critical awareness.
The collection’s greatest strength lies in its unapologetic romanticism of maritime lawlessness. Through a cultural lens, we see how French’s early 20th-century perspective (the book was published in 1922) reflects the Victorian-era fascination with pirates as noble rogues rather than the violent criminals history reveals them to be. The anthology’s introduction particularly fascinated me with its Eurocentric assertion that ‘Great Britain… must be credited with doing more… for the abolition of crime and disorder on the high seas’ – a claim that overlooks how colonial powers often engaged in state-sanctioned piracy themselves.
What fascines me most is how these stories mirror my experience teaching “Treasure Island” to undergraduates. Students consistently grapple with the cognitive dissonance between romantic pirate mythology and historical reality – a tension this anthology embodies perfectly. The section on Chinese waters particularly caught my attention, reminding me of my research into how Eastern and Western literary traditions depict maritime rebellion differently.
The LibriVox volunteer narration presents both charms and challenges. While the multiple narrators create an engaging variety of voices (particularly effective in dialogue-heavy sections), the inconsistent audio quality and occasional mispronunciations may distract serious listeners. Chapter 7’s narrator deserves special praise for their dynamic delivery that perfectly captured a ship’s chaotic battle scene, while Chapter 3’s more monotone reading somewhat flattened the emotional impact of a tragic pirate’s demise.
Compared to other pirate literature I’ve analyzed – from Defoe’s “A General History of the Pyrates” to modern reinterpretations like “Pirate Latitudes” – French’s anthology occupies an interesting middle ground. It lacks the scholarly rigor of academic histories but offers more cultural context than pure adventure fiction. The inclusion of lesser-known pirate tales provides value, though the absence of female pirates (except in brief mentions) reflects the era’s gender biases.
For contemporary listeners, I’d recommend this audiobook primarily as:
1. A historical artifact showing early 20th-century attitudes
2. A source of creative inspiration (writers will find rich material)
3. A casual listening experience best enjoyed in short sessions
Technical note: The free LibriVox format means accepting some audio imperfections, but the convenience of accessing these public domain stories outweighs the production limitations for most listeners. The total runtime of about 8.8 hours makes this a manageable commitment.
As someone who’s analyzed pirate mythology across three continents, I found particular value in how these stories unconsciously reveal the storytellers’ cultural values. The British tales emphasize honor among thieves, while the Caribbean stories focus more on survival – subtle differences that would make excellent discussion material for any literature course examining how we mythologize historical figures.
With scholarly enthusiasm and a pirate’s sense of adventure,
Prof. Emily Chen
