Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been obsessed by the story of Anne Bonny and Mary Read since I heard about them in an Adam Ant song "Five Guns West". I know more than is good for me about pirates and wanted to share some of the fantastic books that inspired me when I wrote the novel Bonny & Read. Eighty years before Pride and Prejudice was written there were women armed with cutlasses roaming the Caribbean looking for ships to plunder – I want to give everyone the opportunity to learn more about this incredible hidden history.


I wrote

Bonny & Read

By Julie Walker,

Book cover of Bonny & Read

What is my book about?

Rebels. Pirates. Women. Caribbean, 1720. Two extraordinary women are on the run - from their pasts, from the British Navy,…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

The books I picked & why

Book cover of History of the Pirates: True Story of the Most Notorious Pirates

Julie Walker Why did I love this book?

Possibly Daniel Defoe, possibly not; the mysterious Captain Johnson clearly had first-hand information about the most notorious pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean when it was first published back in 1724.

As well as stories about Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Black Bart Roberts, Johnson is the reason we know about Anne Bonny and Mary Read’s extraordinary true stories. Jack Rackham served with Blackbeard, too – a fact that I love. 

By Charles Johnson, Daniel Defoe,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked History of the Pirates as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The famous history that inspired so many adventure novels, movies and most recently Black Sails & Pirates of the Caribbean. Find out the truth behind the legend: Table of Contents: • Of Captain Avery, And his Crew • Of Captain Martel, And his Crew • Of Captain Teach, alias Blackbeard • Of Major Stede Bonnet, And his Crew • Of Capt. Edward England, And his Crew • Of Captain Charles Vane, And his Crew • Of Captain John Rackam, And his Crew • The Life of Mary Read, And Anne Bonny • Of Captain Howel Davis, And his Crew •…


Book cover of Mother Ross: The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, Commonly Called Mother Ross, on Campaign with the Duke of Marlboroug

Julie Walker Why did I love this book?

First published in 1740, this is a first-hand account by a woman, Mrs. Christian Davies, who dressed as a man and became a soldier when her husband joined the army and went to fight in Europe.

An extraordinary story of an extraordinary woman and a rare insight into a hidden history.

By Daniel Defoe,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mother Ross as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The astonishing life of a woman soldier

When John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, rode among his 'men' in the campaigns that immortalised him as one of Britain's most accomplished military commanders, particularly in the War of Spanish Succession, little could he have imagined that one of the dragoons riding close to his stirrup was, in fact, not a man but a woman. The wild Irish girl born as Christian Cavanagh operated under several aliases including Welch, Welsh, Jones and Davies until she became known by her most familiar name 'Mother Ross.' No 'shrinking violet,' she would launch herself into a…


Ad

Book cover of The Boldly Inclusive Leader: Transform Your Workplace (and the World) by Valuing the Differences Within

The Boldly Inclusive Leader By Minette Norman,

To create innovative, collaborative, and high-performing organizations, we need a new leadership model.

Speaker, consultant, and former Silicon Valley executive Minette Norman is committed to inspiring leaders by sharing some of the most important things she learned over the decades she spent in the corporate world, such as: every human…

Book cover of The Female Soldier or the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell

Julie Walker Why did I love this book?

Hannah Snell disguised herself as a man and served in the Royal Marines in the mid-1700s.

She brought her experience to a popular stage show when she was discovered and discharged from the regiment. She was the first woman to be given a Royal pension in recognition of her service, and went on to live as a Chelsea Pensioner in London.

By Anonymous,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Female Soldier or the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.


Book cover of Bold in Her Breeches: Woman Pirates Across the Ages

Julie Walker Why did I love this book?

Anne Bonny and Mary Read weren’t history’s only female pirates – though you’ll find them here alongside some lesser-known names.

From Artemisia in Ancient Greece, though to Grace O’Malley, Cheng I Sao, and more, you’ll find stories on what drove these women to sea, and the freedom it offered them alongside the risks. Fascinating.

By Jo Stanley (editor),

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Bold in Her Breeches as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As far back as 480 BC, when Artemisia commanded her Greek trireme, women have taken to the high seas in pursuit of life and liberty. Simultaneously revered and reviled by superstitious male mariners, the realities of these women pirates' lives have been lost in a murky fog of sexual and racial preconceptions.
Bold in her Breeches takes a wholly fresh look at these mythical figures and places them in their true historical and cultural contexts. From Artemisia to the contemporary women pirates of today, via eighteenth-century Grace O'Malley and nineteenth-century Cheng I Sao, we learn why women took to piracy,…


Ad

Book cover of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS By Amy Carney,

When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…

Book cover of Be More Pirate: Or How to Take On the World and Win

Julie Walker Why did I love this book?

A pirate ship was a place where the whole crew got an equal share of plunder, and where every man (or woman) had a voice.

They tore up the rulebook and made a better one that served them better. These two truths form the foundation of a business movement – Be More Pirate – which uses the theme of ‘making good trouble’ as the basis for better work/life satisfaction and building successful businesses.

It also makes the case that Anne Bonny via Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the Masses is actually the model for The Statue of Liberty. How great is that?!

By Sam Conniff Allende,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Be More Pirate as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Whatever your ambitions, ideas and challenges, this book will revolutionize the way you live, think and work today, and tomorrow.

Pirates didn't just break the rules, they rewrote them. They didn't just reject society, they reinvented it. Pirates didn't just challenge the status-quo, they changed everyfuckingthing. Pirates faced a self-interested establishment, a broken system, industrial scale disruption and an uncertain future. Sound familiar?

Pirates stood for MISCHIEF, PURPOSE and POWER. And you can too.

In Be More Pirate, Sam Conniff Allende unveils the innovative strategies of Golden Age pirates, drawing parallels between the tactics and teachings of legends like Henry…


Explore my book 😀

Bonny & Read

By Julie Walker,

Book cover of Bonny & Read

What is my book about?

Rebels. Pirates. Women. Caribbean, 1720. Two extraordinary women are on the run - from their pasts, from the British Navy, and the threat of execution.

Plantation owner's daughter, runaway wife, pirate - Anne Bonny has forged her own story in a man's world. But when she is involved in the capture of a British merchant ship, she finds another woman amongst the crew, with a history as unconventional as her own. Dressed as a boy from childhood, Mary Read has been a soldier, a sailor, a widow. As their exhilarating, tumultuous exploits find fame, the ballad of Bonny and Read is sung from shore to shore - but when you swim against the tide of history, freedom is a dangerous thing...

Book cover of History of the Pirates: True Story of the Most Notorious Pirates
Book cover of Mother Ross: The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, Commonly Called Mother Ross, on Campaign with the Duke of Marlboroug
Book cover of The Female Soldier or the Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 You might also like…

Book cover of The Pianist's Only Daughter: A Memoir

The Pianist's Only Daughter By Kathryn Betts Adams,

The Pianist's Only Daughter is a frank, humorous, and heartbreaking exploration of aging in an aging expert's own family.

Social worker and gerontologist Kathryn Betts Adams spent decades negotiating evolving family dynamics with her colorful and talented parents: her mother, an English scholar and poet, and her father, a pianist…

Book cover of A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France

A Long Way from Iowa By Janet Hulstrand,

This memoir chronicles the lives of three generations of women with a passion for reading, writing, and travel. The story begins in 1992 in an unfinished attic in Brooklyn as the author reads a notebook written by her grandmother nearly 100 years earlier. This sets her on a 30-year search…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in piracy, life satisfaction, and presidential biography?

Piracy 139 books
Life Satisfaction 228 books