Pirate Women

 Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe, 264 pages,

This book follows female "pirates" from the earliest days of sailing to modern Hollywood. I put pirates in scare quotes because this book really stretches the definition of that word, both far and often. I really wanted to like this book. The premise was awesome, and the table of contents looked extremely promising. Unfortunately it just wasn't very good as an informational text. I think that there's a real question about whether at least half of the women in this book ever actually existed, and a lot of wild speculation (especially in the first half). It also mostly read like a series of undergraduate essays compiled into a single book. There are other problems, but most of them boil down to I would recommend people find a different pirate book.