A Thousand Years of Pirates by William Gilkerson

A Thousand Years of Pirates

by William Gilkerson

Tundra Books; 2009; 96 pages

A Thousand Years of Pirates has a fantastic cover which caught my eye right from the beginning. This isn’t the typical pirate book that many kids like where they are perceived as almost a fantasy-like character (Pirates of the Caribbean), but tells the true story of the lives pirates led. There were interesting facts such as the real reason Francis Drake was knighted was because he made England a lot of money. The book also covers the many wars that were often started because of pirating, who they stole from and why, and what kind of life they led. Women pirates are also covered in this book. The pictures inside were interesting, but not fascinating. It was a fun book and one that I think an older child would enjoy reading for a nonfiction book report.

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