The narrative describes the life of an Englishman, stolen from a well-to-do family as a child and raised by Gypsies who eventually makes his way to sea. One half of the book concerns Singleton's crossing of Africa and the later half concerns his life as a pirate. Defoe's description of piracy focuses for the most part on matters of economics and logistics, making it an intriguing if not particularly gripping read. Singleton's piracy is more like a merchant adventurer, perhaps Defoe's comment on capitalism.
Language: English
Published in: 1720
Word count: 112,898 words (≈ about 8 hours)
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6422
Copyright: Public Domain
Sailors, pirates, nautical adventures and strange sea creatures: a list of stories from the sea.