In the last decade, author Samuel Marquis has penned a dozen historical fiction and non-fiction narratives, covering everything from the Golden Age of Piracy to World War II. His latest work takes readers back to the high seas to recount the life of his ninth great-grandfather, renowned 17th-century privateer Captain William Kidd. Captain Kidd: A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal reexamines Kidd’s legacy to unveil the authentic nature of this controversial figure. Here’s everything you need to know before the book hits shelves on May 13!
Trigger warning: Captain Kidd contains depictions of hanging, violence, and death, as well as brief mentions of sexual assault. Please exercise personal care while reading.
Synopsis
He’s known to history as a pirate outlaw, but is Captain William Kidd’s modern legacy built on lies? Stories of Captain Kidd’s swashbuckling escapades have persisted for over 300 years, establishing him as a ruthless criminal who plundered countless enemies and ruled his crew with an iron fist. But what if this infamous sea rover wasn’t a pirate after all? What if, instead, he was a fearsome pirate hunter scapegoated by backstabbing politicians?
In this rip-roaring new biography, Kidd’s ninth great-grandson, Samuel Marquis, is here to set the record straight. An honorable English-American privateer, as well as a devoted husband and father, Kidd was described by peers and historians alike as “well-beloved” and “honest-hearted.” So why, to this day, is he considered a villain by some and a hero by others? Captain Kidd illuminates the diplomatic scandal that turned him into a political fall guy and a revolutionary icon. Gear up for perilous seafaring adventures, audacious naval battles, and an ill-fated love story in this groundbreaking reimagining of the life of William Kidd.
An Epic High-Seas Adventure
The lightning quickness of the attack was astounding, and the deck swiftly turned to a confused melee. Bodies flew past in a blur; crimson sprays and mists of blood spurted across the deck; caught-off-guard victims collapsed with loud thuds on the hardwood planking; and primitive-sounding screams and grunts filled the air as England and France made war in miniature aboard the privateer Sainte Rose.
Samuel Marquis, Captain Kidd
Samuel Marquis’ Captain Kidd is a grand adventure for the ages, complete with daring maritime exploits, intriguing political tiffs, and a pair of star-crossed lovers. With novelistic narration, Marquis guides readers through the Pirate Round period of the Golden Age of Piracy, introducing notorious Red Sea Men like Robert Culliford and Thomas Tew. Opposite to these fabled plunderers stars our story’s equally prominent protagonist, privateer William Kidd, who sets out on a mission to capture traitorous privateers-turned-pirates, only to find himself accused of piracy — a charge with lethal consequences. Drawing from innumerable primary and secondary sources, Marquis reconstructs a riveting era of nautical history, dropping readers directly into the heart-pounding action of naval warfare to exhilarating effect.
A Tragic “Rags-To-Riches, Back-To-Rags” Story
Captain Kidd—still recognized today as one of the most villainous cutthroats of all time—surrendered as peacefully as a kitty-cat. But as he looked back at Lord Bellomont—the very symbol of the paternalistic English Crown with his stern visage, powdered periwig, and blood-red imperial jacket—William Kidd must have realized that he was about to lose everything.
Samuel Marquis, Captain Kidd
Born an unremarkable English commoner, William Kidd conquered the odds to become a revered sea captain and wealthy New York property owner with friends in high places. Many men of his status would’ve caved to baser desires for money and power, no matter who they had to trample on to get it. But not Kidd. He was recognized as a gentleman merchant, generous to all in his circle, regardless of social class. However, while Kidd was unwaveringly loyal to his family, country, crew, and collaborators, he soon learned that many of his so-called allies were only faithful to themselves. And that would be his undoing.
Once imprisoned under charges of piracy, the only thing standing between him and death was his jailers’ greed — they fully intended to make an example of him, regardless of his guilt or innocence. But even when stripped of his freedom and worldly possessions and left with nothing but the dirty set of clothes on his back, there was one thing Kidd never forfeited: his honor. To the bitter end, he maintained his innocence, condemning the English government for its farcical judicial proceedings and opening the public’s eyes to the country’s political ploys. Though they robbed him of everything else, Kidd’s enemies could never take away his integrity, and thus, he stood as a pillar of honesty and justice even in death.
A Nuanced Portrayal of a Complicated Historical Figure
In the judgment of history, then, William Kidd no more deserves to be ‘draped in robes of spotless white’ or to stand as ‘the perfect gentleman and the complete martyr’ than he does to be called ‘the world’s greatest liar and thief’ or a ‘villain of all nations.’
Samuel Marquis, Captain Kidd
Many Kidd historians tend to fall on one side or the other of a contentious debate: Either Kidd was a saint or the devil incarnate. But Marquis paints a different picture, blending these antithetical black-or-white personas into more true-to-life shades of gray. While Kidd was a loving family man who showed undying loyalty to his country and treated all persons with respect, it’s also true that he was naive and quick to anger — fatally so, by some accounts. Although the legacy of a barbarous buccaneer prevails in the public mind, in recent years, history has remembered Kidd in a way that more closely resembles his real character. It’s this image of a decent but imperfect man that Marquis aims to commit to the historical record in Captain Kidd.
An Intimate Portrait of 17th-Century Politics
Kidd had to die, of course, but it had to be by the noose in a grand London spectacle to show the Great Mughal and those recalcitrant American provincials that the English Empire was deadly serious about its war on piracy. The Henry Every scandal had been an embarrassment to the nation and a Pyrrhic victory in the courtroom; this time around, the Crown would leave nothing to chance.
Samuel Marquis, Captain Kidd
Kidd’s story is a microcosm of the greater state of societal affairs in the Western world during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Despite every effort to villainize him, Kidd inadvertently became a revolutionary, drawing vital attention to the English Crown’s faults and deceptions. His tale captures the essence of the time period in myriad ways, conveying the shifting tides of the political landscape on an interpersonal, national, and international level. While, on the surface, Captain Kidd is an account of one man’s storied life, it also manages to deliver a detailed depiction of economics, resistance, and democratic turmoil at a crucial turning point in global history.
Final Thoughts
Captain Kidd by Samuel Marquis is a captivating work of revisionist history that wades through centuries of myth and propaganda to reveal the reality behind a divisive seafaring legend. In doing so, Marquis helps to reshape his ancestor’s tempestuous legacy into one that better reflects the man he truly was, correcting the modern record on Kiddian lore. A clear passion project, this tribute to the abiding memory of one of the world’s most infamous “pirates” demonstrates why Kidd’s story has endured in the cultural consciousness for the better part of four centuries and will likely remain there for many years to come.
You’ll love Captain Kidd if you enjoyed these books:
- Born to Be Hanged: The Epic Story of the Gentlemen Pirates Who Raided the South Seas, Rescued a Princess, and Stole a Fortune by Keith Thomson
- Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates by Robert C. Ritchie
- Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan’s Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws’ Bloody Reign by Stephan Talty
- The Golden Age of Piracy: The Truth Behind Pirate Myths by Benerson Little
- The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Bookstr’s Captain Kidd Dream Cast:
- Henry Cavill as Captain William Kidd, infamous privateer and sea captain
- Natalia Dyer as Sarah Kidd, New York socialite and William’s wife
- Robert Pattinson as Robert Culliford, pirate captain and Kidd’s nemesis
- Daniel Craig as Richard Coote, First Earl of Bellomont, New York governor and backstabbing lead sponsor of Kidd’s Indian Ocean journey
- Karl Urban as William Moore, Kidd’s mutinous chief gunner on the Adventure Galley
If you want to add Captain Kidd to your TBR, you can preorder it on Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Amazon. Thank you to Diversion Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
To read another starred review, click here!
To browse more books like this, check out Bookstr’s Non-Fiction shelf on Bookshop!
