The breakneck adventure of war, romance, politics, and betrayal, where noble gentleman privateer William Kidd becomes a scapegoat, and Crown and crew sink to unfathomable depths to brand him pirate enemy #1.
Captain William Kidd stands as one of the most notorious “pirate” outlaws ever, but his notorious legend is tainted by a bed of lies. Captain Kidd has captivated imaginations for over three hundred years and inspired many stories about pirates, but was he really a criminal? Just how many ships did he plunder, how many men did he force to walk the plank, and how many throats did he slit? Or is the truth more inconvenient, that he was a buccaneer’s worst nightmare, a revered pirate hunter turned fall guy for scheming politicians?
In Captain Kidd, his ninth-great-grandson, writer Samuel Marquis, reveals the real story. Kidd was an English-American privateer and leading New York husband and father, dubbed “trusty and well-beloved” by the King of England himself and described by historians as a “worthy, honest-hearted, steadfast, much-enduring sailor” who was the “victim of a deliberate travesty of justice.” With honors far more esteemed than the menacing Blackbeard or any other sea rover at the turn of the seventeenth century, how can Kidd be considered both gentleman and pirate, both hero and villain?
Marquis’ biography clears the foggy haze of five centuries of legend and British propaganda to illuminate the seafaring adventurer and civic leader. He scrupulously recreates Kidd’s perilous world of explosive naval warfare, the daring integrity he exemplified as a pirate hunter, and the political scandal that entangled Kidd in British-American history, rocking the New World and the Old and threatening England’s valuable trade with India.
Captain Kidd is both thrilling and tragic. Behind the legend is a real man woven into the tapestry of early America, rendering him a unique colonial hero and scapegoat, whose life story was fascinating, exciting, bizarre, and heartrending.
Industry Reviews
Praise for Captain Kidd:
“With Captain Kidd, Samuel Marquis deftly separates the man from the myth in a riveting narrative that includes a compelling cast of characters, cannon fire, sword fights, mutiny, and treasure—all with the fate of empires hanging in the balance. A rollicking tale that proves that true stories are the best ones.”
—Buddy Levy, bestselling author of Realm of Ice and Sky and Empire of Ice and Stone
“Marquis paints the life of the inimitable Captain Kidd in bold, rich colors. A dashing, absorbing tale.”
—Stephan Talty, bestselling author of Empire of Blue Water
“Captain Kidd presents one of the most intriguing tales of all time, with author Samuel Marquis bringing it to life through a blend of Clive Cussler-esque prose and Biblical-scholar-level research. You will taste the salty air, feel the cannonballs buzzing past, and not merely hear the explosions, but feel them in your teeth.”
—Keith Thomson, author of Born to Be Hanged
“Captain Kidd is a well-researched and thoroughly readable account of the rise and downfall of this enigmatic character and is a welcome addition to the world of pirate history.”
—James L. Nelson, author of Benedict Arnold’s Navy
“If you enjoy a good read about piracy this is a book for you.”
—Robert Ritchie, PhD, former Foundation Director of Research, Huntington Library, Professor of History-UCSD, and author of Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates
“Samuel Marquis provides the reader with a remarkable impression of Captain William Kidd, one that attempts to reincarnate the real person rather than the caricatured and often enigmatic villain-trope.”
—Benerson Little, historian and author of The Golden Age of Piracy and The Sea Rover’s Practice
“Marquis has written a fascinating and engaging new study of the pirate Captain Kidd. A must-read for all pirate fans and scholars!”
—Rebecca Simon, PhD, historian and author of Why We Love Pirates
“A new book tackling Kidd’s career on both sides of the law with fresh information and evidence is bound to find an enthusiastic audience.”
—Guy Chet, PhD, Professor of History, University of North Texas, and author of The Ocean Is a Wilderness and The Colonists’ American Revolution
“Anchored in rapidly globalizing seventeenth century seascapes and crewed by some of the most compelling and historically consequential characters that you’ve never heard of (until now), Marquis takes us on an action-packed voyage to discover the real Captain Kidd and his contributions to the making of America.”
—John R. Welch, PhD, Professor of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
“Few authors could tell Kidd's complicated story as well as Samuel Marquis. With a beachcomber's eye for detail and a playwright's sense of drama, Marquis traces Kidd's zig-zagging trajectory as he threads his way through history, gaining fame and absorbing blame.”
—Kris Lane, PhD, Professor of History, Tulane University, and author of Piracy in the Early Modern Era
