Kathryn Hewitt

Every kid knows that pirates talk funny, swing a big sword, and seek buried treasure-don't they? What do we really know about Blackbeard, Madame Cheng, Sir Francis Drake, and other men and women of pirate history? What drove them to sail the high seas? What were their bad habits, favorite foods, and silly quirks? And did they actually talk like that?     A lively style, lots of surprises, and solid research have made the Lives of .