Legendary Pirates: The Life and Legacy of Howell Davis

*Includes historic illustrations of Howell Davis and other important people, places, and events in his life.

*Includes a profile of Howell Davis from the famous English pirate history "A General History of the Pyrates".

*Includes a Bibliography for further reading.

*Includes a Table of Contents.


"Captain Davis...allowing for the course of life he had been unhappily engaged in, was a most generous, humane person.” - Captain William Snelgrave


The people who have lived outside the boundaries of normal societies and refused to play by the rules have long fascinated the world, and nowhere is this more evident than the continuing interest in the pirates of centuries past. As the subjects of books, movies, and even theme park rides, people continue to let their imaginations go when it comes to pirates, with buried treasure, parrots, and walking the plank all ingrained in pop culture’s perception of them. Charles River Editors’ Legendary Pirates series covers the lives, piracy, legends, myths, and legacies of history’s most famous pirates. 


Despite having one of the shortest careers of history’s most famous pirates, Captain Howell Davis had one of the most colorful and important years during the Golden Age of Piracy. Though little is known about his life before July 1718, when he joined a pirate crew after they captured the slaver ship he was working on, it’s a testament to his abilities that he became the captain of one of the pirates’ ships very quickly after they had commandeered his ship. It also didn’t take him long to earn a reputation for being devious and cunning, and more than once he was able to lie and bluff his way to taking a ship that probably could have defended itself against him.


It was during one of his most daring escapades that one of his ruses was undone on the island of Principe, a Portugese holding at the time. Though Davis didn’t know it, one of his deceptions was unmasked, and the island’s governor put his own plot in motion, setting Davis up for an ambush that left him and some of his men dead. But even in death, Davis remained influential; he had taken a pirate named Bartholomew Roberts under his wing, and Black Bart would succeed Davis as captain upon his death. 


Legendary Pirates: The Life and Legacy of Howell Davis looks at the life and legacy of the famous pirate, attempting to separate fact from fiction. Along with pictures depicting Captain Davis and important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about the pirate like you never have before, in no time at all.