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Joan Druett
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She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea Paperback – March 6, 2001

by Joan Druett (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
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Long before women had the right to vote, earn money, or have lives of their own, "she captains" -- bold women distinguished for courageous enterprise on the high seas -- thrilled and terrorized their shipmates, performed acts of valor, and pirated with the best of their male counterparts. From the warrior queens of the sixth century b.c. to the female shipowners influential in opening the Northwest Passage, She Captains brings together a real-life cast of characters whose audacity and bravado will capture the imagination. In her inimitable style, Joan Druett paints a vivid portrait of real women who were drawn to the ocean's beauty -- and danger -- and dared to captain ships of their own.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster
  4. Publication date
    March 6, 2001
  5. Dimensions
    8.5 x 5.51 x 0.77 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0684856913
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0684856919
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Karin Winegar Minneapolis Star Tribune Great reading, especially for those who love tales of risk, glory, gritty adventure, and action-packed history.

David Hays coauthor of My Old Man and the Sea Joan Druett's She Captains sweeps across the decks as a gale of tales -- saucy and surprising, always seaworthy. A sparkling voyage.

Donna Seaman Booklist Druett is as valued for her jaunty storytelling as she is for reclaiming the forgotten lives of seafaring women....Maritime lore has always been rich in romance and suffering; Druett's revelations increase its fascination tenfold.

About the Author

Joan Druett, an award-winning writer of nautical nonfiction, is the author of numerous works, including Hen Frigates and In the Wake of Madness. She lives in New Zealand. Visit her website at www.joan.druett.gen.nz.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; First Edition (March 6, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684856913
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684856919
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.704 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 5.51 x 0.77 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

About the author

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Joan Druett

Joan Druett

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I have written for as long as I can remember: my mother kept a "book" I wrote when I was four. It was several pages long, was well illustrated, told a story, and had no spelling mistakes!

In my teens I wrote for Maori and science fiction magazines. In my early twenties I worked in Toronto at a university press, and then in London as a copy editor for Gollanz. Back in New Zealand, I wrote travel articles for international magazines and regularly reviewed books for the "New Zealand Herald". This -- plus teaching college level biology -- was interrupted when I stumbled over the grave of a young whaling wife on the tropical island of Rarotonga. It was a life-changing experience..A Fulbright fellowship led to five months of research in New Bedford and Edgartown, Massachusetts; Mystic, Connecticut; and San Francisco, California. The result was the first in a series of books about seafaring wives, all of which have received awards..

Three years on a joint fellowship (with my maritime artist husband, the dear, departed Ron Druett) in the village of Orient on Long Island, led to participation in a prize-winning exhibit, “The Sailing Circle," which received substantial funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project won the highly prestigious Albert Corey Award.

Back in New Zealand, I was lucky in getting another fellowship, the Stout Fellowship at Victoria University, Wellington.This gave me the opportunity to keep on writing. Maritime stories for international magazines followed, and I reviewed books for the Boston Globe, the Listener, and other prestigious newspapers and journals. And of course there were books, including "Island of the Lost," which has become an enduring classic in the survival genre, and has been translated in Italy and Ukraine. "Tupaia," the biography of an astonishingly brilliant Tahitian priest and navigator, who sailed with Captain Cook. This won the NZ Post Best Non-fiction Book award, and. has been translated into Chinese and French.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
25 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

libbye
4.0 out of 5 stars A Slightly Adolescent Biography of the many women involed in Piracy.
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
This is written ever so slightly for YA's. Still, this is an excellent intro to women and piracy, though Ms. Druett leaves out anything relating to the fluid sexuality of men and women under the black flag. She divides her book into specific categories of women pirates: 1) Warrior Queens2)The Valkyria3)Mistress Cowtie and the Pirates4)Pirate Queens5)Captured by Corsairs6)The Widows 7) Bobby and Read 8) The Naked Truth9)Ship's Business 10) Fatal Shores and 11) Fatal. Impact. This is an incredibly detailed history-we not only get personal biographies of the women ; but how weather and clothing affected the women.
2 people found this helpful
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Mike
4.0 out of 5 stars Gift for Wife!
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
Bought this for my wife. And, she love it. She volunteers on a local tall sailing ship and this has provided extensive background material for her. Also, gives her input for the character she dresses as when she volunteers. Great buy at a good price.
One person found this helpful
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Zaphod
2.0 out of 5 stars Where are the pictures
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2011
Verified Purchase
I have both the hard cover and the kindle version now and I am VERY disappointed that the pictures are all missing what's up with that?
One person found this helpful
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barbara g.
4.0 out of 5 stars Sail ship and women of history
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2015
Verified Purchase
Interesting history of the ships that sailed the world before the invention of steam power and those that were on them as crew etc.
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Libby B.
2.0 out of 5 stars "Heroines and Hellions of the Sea" is somewhat misleading
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2008
This book did not get off to a good start, given that it was supposed to be about great female sailors. In the introduction, the author mentions Tomyris, who killed Cyrus the Great in a (land) battle. Also, Hero (of Hero and Leander) who drowned herself, which is sort of like sailing, only without the floating. There were also Chinese Fox Fairies (not so much with the swimming foxes), Valkyries, Amazons, and a missionary princess who sailed to Ceylon to spread Buddhism. So at least that last one rode in a boat once.

The book gets slightly more on-topic after the introduction is over, mentioning famous female pirates like Anne Bonney, Mary Reed, Cheng I Sao, and Grace O'Malley. However, I got the impression that the author didn't really have enough information to write an entire book, and had to fill it out with quite a few stories of women married to or involved with sailors, but who were not in fact sailors themselves. Still, some of the stories were engaging, if thinly researched, and there was some interesting information about women in the whaling industry. This book is of more use as a starting point for research than a reference in and of itself.
7 people found this helpful
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Shannon
4.0 out of 5 stars Queens of the High Seas
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2000
People may think that the womens' movement began in the 1960s or '70s, but the ladies whose stories are told in this book prove that female empowerment was alive and kicking on-board clipper ships and at the helm of pirate cutters long before Gloria Steinem was a gleam in her mother's eye. This book tells the stories of numerous fascinating female buccaneers who could be just as ruthless as their male counterparts and hold sway over crews of male sailors. Even if you're familiar with Anne Bonny and Mary Read, you will learn about many of their lesser-known compatriots and their world. This is an intriguing study of women in a career that has been generally relegated to the male realm in popular thought.
22 people found this helpful
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Rowan
2.0 out of 5 stars Not enough information, some of it very wrong
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2005
I'm still in the middle of this book. The subject matter is interesting, but it skims over the tales too quickly (e.g., how and when were Rackham et al captured?). Druett also jumps around too much - mixing the tales of more than one woman who were unrelated in terms of place and time.

In addition, the book really bothered me for its lack of quality research. The author relied too much upon myths and stereotypes to embellish her story. In particular, the chapter about the Vikings contained a lot of misinformation, most from romanticized tales from the Victorian era. A 30-second web search would have told her that the Vikings didn't wear horned helmets, that they ate a lot more than plain, boiled meat (as traders and farmers, they had access to a variety of fruit, vegetables, herbs, and spices), etc. They were a lot more sophisticated than Druett made out.

It's fine as light reading and a quick overview of the topic, but the devil's in the details.
15 people found this helpful
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David Stapleton
4.0 out of 5 stars Sea Legs or She Legs
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2002
In general this is a collection of stories of women associated with seafaring. Not all were 'captains', but that's not really material to the focus of the book, which is to provide the reader with ample examples of women who worked in the maritime trade (in one way or another).
The topics range from royalty and psuedo-royalty, to pirates, to wives. For the most part the women are of strong character and know what they want. Druett, writes well and the stories are entertaining and well researched.
10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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timothy
5.0 out of 5 stars Schön!
Reviewed in Germany on June 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
Schönes Buch mit viele kurze Geschichten über viele verschiedene weibliche Kapitäne und Seefahrerinnen in verschiedene Zeitalter; von der Antike über Anne Boney und Mary Read bis zum Anfang des 20. Jahrhundert
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