HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the…
Loading...

Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship (original 2015; edition 2015)

by Robert Kurson

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5295045,483 (3.92)25
History. Sports & Recreations. Nonfiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE • A thrilling adventure of danger and deep-sea diving, historic mystery and suspense, by the author of Shadow Divers
/> Finding and identifying a pirate ship is the hardest thing to do under the sea. But two men—John Chatterton and John Mattera—are willing to risk everything to find the Golden Fleece, the ship of the infamous pirate Joseph Bannister. At large during the Golden Age of Piracy in the seventeenth century, Bannister should have been immortalized in the lore of the sea—his exploits more notorious than Blackbeard’s, more daring than Kidd’s. But his story, and his ship, have been lost to time. If Chatterton and Mattera succeed, they will make history—it will be just the second time ever that a pirate ship has been discovered and positively identified. Soon, however, they realize that cutting-edge technology and a willingness to lose everything aren’t enough to track down Bannister’s ship. They must travel the globe in search of historic documents and accounts of the great pirate’s exploits, face down dangerous rivals, battle the tides of nations and governments and experts. But it’s only when they learn to think and act like pirates—like Bannister—that they become able to go where no pirate hunters have gone before.
Fast-paced and filled with suspense, fascinating characters, history, and adventure, Pirate Hunters is an unputdownable story that goes deep to discover truths and souls long believed lost.
Praise for Pirate Hunters

“You won’t want to put [it] down.”Los Angeles Times
“An exceptional adventure . . . Highly recommended to readers who delight in adventure, suspense, and the thrill of discovering history at their fingertips.”Library Journal (starred review)
“A terrific read . . . The book gallops along at a blistering pace, shifting us deftly between the seventeenth century and the present day.”Diver
“Nonfiction with the trademarks of a novel: the plots and subplots, the tension and suspense . . . [Kurson has] found gold.”The Dallas Morning News
“Rollicking . . . a fascinating [story] about the world of pirates, piracy, and priceless treasures.”The Boston Globe
“[Kurson’s] narration is just as engrossing as the subject.”The Christian Science Monitor
“A wild ride [and an] extraordinary adventure . . . Kurson’s own enthusiasm, combined with his copious research and an eye for detail, makes for one of the most mind-blowing pirate stories of recent memory, one that even the staunchest landlubber will have a hard time putting down.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The two contemporary pirate-ship seekers of Mr. Kurson’s narrative are as daring, intrepid, tough and talented as Blood and Sparrow—and Bannister. . . . As depicted by the author, they are real-life Hemingway heroes.”The Wall Street Journal
“[Kurson] takes his knowledge of the underwater world and applies it to the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ . . . thrillingly detailing the highs and lows of chasing not just gold and silver but also history.”Booklist
“A great thriller full of tough guys and long odds . . . and: It’s all true.”—Lee Child.… (more)
Member:coker74
Title:Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship
Authors:Robert Kurson
Info:Random House (2015), Hardcover, 304 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:***1/2
Tags:2015

Work Information

Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson (2015)

  1. 00
    De Potter's Grand Tour: A Novel by Joanna Scott (BookshelfMonstrosity)
  2. 00
    The Buccaneers of America by Alexander O. Exquemelin (spyrunner)
    spyrunner: I read an abridged version of Buccaneers of America after enjoying Pirate divers. This skips long descriptions of the fauna.
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 25 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 53 (next | show all)
Only one confirmed pirate ship had been found when two galleon hunters were lured away from certain treasure from a sunken Spanish ship to look for a pirate ship off an island in the Dominican Republic. Based on certain sources they were supposed to find it in a specific location and yet it wasn‘t there. Years of research, tenacity, & ingenuity landed them the big prize. This an excellent book, well written and researched. Highly recommended. ( )
  KarenMonsen | Nov 25, 2023 |
A riveting story of how a pirate ship was found including the personal, financial, and legal strains that go into the entire process. The background given of each man on this team of pirate hunters provides information as to the extremes to which they will go to reach their goals. ( )
  Kimberlyhi | Apr 15, 2023 |
True story of the search for the pirate ship Golden Fleece near shores of current-day Dominican Republic. In 1684, Captain Joseph Bannister abandoned his career as an English merchant captain, stole the ship, and became a pirate. The Royal Navy tracked him down and sank his ship in 1686. In 2008, celebrated wreck-divers John Chatterton and John Mattera teamed up with treasure hunter Tracy Bowden to search for the ship and recover its cargo.

I particularly enjoyed the history of the era and the manner in which the salvors searched for Bannister by doing extensive research, analyzing his thought processes, and putting puzzle pieces together to figure out the logical location of the vessel. As with many books about pirates, I was not overly fond of the glorification of the pirate life. They were thieves, murderers, torturers and, basically, not individuals to be admired. However, the search for the ship is fascinating. It involves research, technology, skill, patience, legalities, and capital. Kurson intersperses biographical information about the men who found the ship with the search effort and the historical records. The current story is told in a dramatic manner, relying heavily on the memories of Chatterton and Mattera.

Books of this type, an opportunity to solve a centuries-old mystery, are almost irresistible for me. I listened to the audio book, competently read by Ray Porter. It would probably be better to read a copy that contains maps and photos.
( )
  Castlelass | Oct 30, 2022 |
Interesting experience of the culture of salvage hunters, and the pirates themselves. I liked the weaving in of the stories of the main characters...all interesting people. The story of the search and discovery itself would be pretty short and somewhat boring without all the back story. ( )
  RandomWally | Jun 6, 2022 |
A good example of why women live longer than men. Some men think their lives aren't worthwhile unless they live right on the edge. ( )
  Citizenjoyce | Nov 22, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 53 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
History. Sports & Recreations. Nonfiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE • A thrilling adventure of danger and deep-sea diving, historic mystery and suspense, by the author of Shadow Divers
Finding and identifying a pirate ship is the hardest thing to do under the sea. But two men—John Chatterton and John Mattera—are willing to risk everything to find the Golden Fleece, the ship of the infamous pirate Joseph Bannister. At large during the Golden Age of Piracy in the seventeenth century, Bannister should have been immortalized in the lore of the sea—his exploits more notorious than Blackbeard’s, more daring than Kidd’s. But his story, and his ship, have been lost to time. If Chatterton and Mattera succeed, they will make history—it will be just the second time ever that a pirate ship has been discovered and positively identified. Soon, however, they realize that cutting-edge technology and a willingness to lose everything aren’t enough to track down Bannister’s ship. They must travel the globe in search of historic documents and accounts of the great pirate’s exploits, face down dangerous rivals, battle the tides of nations and governments and experts. But it’s only when they learn to think and act like pirates—like Bannister—that they become able to go where no pirate hunters have gone before.
Fast-paced and filled with suspense, fascinating characters, history, and adventure, Pirate Hunters is an unputdownable story that goes deep to discover truths and souls long believed lost.
Praise for Pirate Hunters

“You won’t want to put [it] down.”Los Angeles Times
“An exceptional adventure . . . Highly recommended to readers who delight in adventure, suspense, and the thrill of discovering history at their fingertips.”Library Journal (starred review)
“A terrific read . . . The book gallops along at a blistering pace, shifting us deftly between the seventeenth century and the present day.”Diver
“Nonfiction with the trademarks of a novel: the plots and subplots, the tension and suspense . . . [Kurson has] found gold.”The Dallas Morning News
“Rollicking . . . a fascinating [story] about the world of pirates, piracy, and priceless treasures.”The Boston Globe
“[Kurson’s] narration is just as engrossing as the subject.”The Christian Science Monitor
“A wild ride [and an] extraordinary adventure . . . Kurson’s own enthusiasm, combined with his copious research and an eye for detail, makes for one of the most mind-blowing pirate stories of recent memory, one that even the staunchest landlubber will have a hard time putting down.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The two contemporary pirate-ship seekers of Mr. Kurson’s narrative are as daring, intrepid, tough and talented as Blood and Sparrow—and Bannister. . . . As depicted by the author, they are real-life Hemingway heroes.”The Wall Street Journal
“[Kurson] takes his knowledge of the underwater world and applies it to the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ . . . thrillingly detailing the highs and lows of chasing not just gold and silver but also history.”Booklist
“A great thriller full of tough guys and long odds . . . and: It’s all true.”—Lee Child.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

LibraryThing Early Reviewers Alum

Robert Kurson's book Pirate Hunters was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.92)
0.5
1 1
1.5
2 5
2.5 2
3 23
3.5 15
4 62
4.5 12
5 29

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,234,914 books! | Top bar: Always visible