Book review - "Pirate Women" by Laura Sook Duncombe

The introduction to Pirate Women: The Princess, Prostitutes and Privateers who Ruled the Seven Seas, author Laura Sook Duncombe makes it clear there were plenty of women pirates throughout history but their stories have been suppressed and ignored because of men!  So is this a book regaling the exploits of female pirates who have been ignored by history or does the author have a chip on her shoulder and wants to make a point?  To me, the answer is both.  She even cites pirate historian extraordinaire David Cordingly who expressed doubt that Anne Bonny and Mary Read could have lived aboard a pirate ship.  Duncombe writes:

“When even a historian covering women sailors refuses to acknowledge that women pirates existed, there is a problem in the field.”

Laura honey, Cordingly isn’t doubting their existence. He (and many others) find it difficult that Bonny and Read could have kept their identities secret from so many men in the cramped, overcrowded decks of pirate ships. 

If an author discussing female pirate history misunderstands a simple statement, what else was taken wrong?

It is clear that Duncombe has done her research and reports on obscure women pirates but does her readers a disservice by frequently digressing to figures who are fictional or who’s existences are not verifiable.  Probably a quarter of the women she writes about are only legends.  Why waste our time on fairy tales if you’re wanting to defend the existence of real women pirates?

Beyond that, Duncombe’s definition of ‘female pirate’ is broad in the sense as it pertains to women who did not very nice things when a ship is involved.  One example is her telling of Jeanne de Montfort who raised an army to reclaim a duchy for her son.  Since she used a ship to “steal” the duchy that means she’s a pirate, right?  When you have to justify your definition and ask the question, perhaps this wasn’t a great example to use for illustrating women pirates.

As I mentioned earlier, Duncombe does give examples of women pirates who for whatever reason have been lost in history.  Whether these omissions are deliberate sabotage by men or not, she does not make any conclusions but the book reads as if  the author has an axe to grind.