Age range 12+

Pirates are a perennially popular subject, depicted often in songs, stories, and Halloween costumes. Yet the truth about pirates - who they were, why they went to sea, and what their lives were really like - is seldom a part of the conversation. 

In this Seven Seas history of the world's female buccaneers, A Pirate's Life for She tells the story of sixteen women who through the ages sailed alongside - and sometimes in command of - their male counterparts. These women came from all walks of life but had one thing in common: a desire for freedom. History has largely ignored these female swashbucklers, until now. 

Author Laura Sook Duncombe also looks beyond the fact that these women are not easy heroines: they are lawbreakers. Rather than defend their illegal actions, A Pirate's Life for She tells their full stories, focusing on the reasons why these women became pirates.