Expedition Whydah by Barry Clifford, Paul Berry (1999, Hardcover)

This is one of the very few comprehensive about the Whydah, a pirate ship with a fascinating history. The book is about the discovery of the wreckage of the ship off of Cape Cod, and the recovery effort for artifacts of the ship. Since this is one of only two authenticated pirate ship sites ever explored and excavated, the book has a lot of unique information that illuminates not only the archaeological process, but also what the ship was like when she sailed. Parts of the book are a little tedious & not as well written as they might be, but overall, it's a very interesting read. I was fortunate to find a nearly pristine hardcover copy. The downside for those interested in reading it is that the book is either currently out of print, or you have to order in as a Print on Demand product. My copy, which must be from the original run of the book, is very nice; a typical POD book is of poor quality. Still, it's for the reading that you want it, it's an option. I'd recommend searching eBay first.

Why did I buy it? The story was brought to my attention by a friend of mine, who knows a direct descendant of one of the crew. There may be a movie made about the story of the ship, and that's my main interest in learning more about the Whydah. It's a story worth the telling about real people who wound up engaging in piracy in its early days near the Americas, and quite unlike Pirates of the Carribean. Nothing wrong with the latter, it's a fun movie, but it's based on a ride at a theme park. The story of the Whydah is part of our history, and isn't what you expect. And isn't that what makes you want to turn to the next page?