Black Bart Roberts. An atypical pirate--he's a teatoatler. He also, taking a page from William Dampier, decided he wants a chronicle of his adventures (this is purely fictional--there's no account of Bart's travels written by one of his crew) and so charges William Williams, a fellow Welshman originally pressed by the Royal Navy to serve onboard a slaver, to recordthe events of Bart and his crew. The language fully evokes the time without sounding contrived or twee. There's naturally blood and guts and treachery aplenty. This is an excellent novel about one of the most nefarious pirates--it even makes him seem rather human. ( )