Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Under the Black Flag

  • The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates
  • By: David Cordingly
  • Narrated by: Don Hagen
  • Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (56 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Under the Black Flag

By: David Cordingly
Narrated by: Don Hagen
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

For this rousing, revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum has combed original documents and records to produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is pure fiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth that is more complex and often bloodier.

©2006 David Cordingly (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Black Flags, Blue Waters cover art
The Pirate World cover art
Blackbeard cover art
Villains of All Nations cover art
Cthonia's Reckoning cover art
Pirate Women cover art
Enemy of All Mankind cover art
The Invisible Hook cover art
Ancient Rome cover art
SBS – Silent Warriors cover art
The Gates of Europe cover art
Hyperion cover art
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England cover art
Killers of the King cover art
The Republic of Pirates cover art
The Adventure of English cover art

Critic reviews

"An insightful, concise, and thoroughly enjoyable portrait of the misnamed Golden Age of Piracy...." ( Library Journal)
"Even if you don't know a corsair (a Mediterranean-based pirate) from a buccaneer (a Caribbean pirate), this book will delight and inform." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Under the Black Flag

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    22
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Book Let Down By Narration

Great book generally well read but let down by the butchering of English place names

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thorough at dispelling romanticism preconceptions

Non spoiler alert, but the last section offer a suitable historic footnote that articulates the misconceptions and romanticising of the subject matter, maybe watch the excellent Black Sails amalgamation of fact v fiction to help visualise the content the section of Hollywood’s makeover also reinforces idealised stereotypes that still pertain.
Grab a rum and immerse yourself to help visual sloops and the socio economic and political dynamic that still 300 years translate in elements of today’s society.
The author has done a excellent job of the realities of this period, from a reference point of view as a training tool, you need to take key window timeline of specific periods and events within the social context and frame around your own storytelling narrative. The crime, state retribution and punishment keeps you immersed beyond the usual key figures and the chapter on homosexuality is enlightening.
A couple of UK diction errors are more than made up for with French, Spanish and Chinese articulation


Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The reader is abysmal

He sends you to sleep, he mispronounces words all over the place (and not just the usual suspects). Who on earth thought using him could possibly be a good idea?
If you can stand him (and having to rewind when you wake up) the book itself is not at all bad

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really informative

Really enjoyed the book despite the American pronunciation of so much of it. Perhaps the voice might learn to pronounce the words he's reading in future.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!