Pirates - and - Pirates of the Most Ferocious Kind

Given the press coverage about the Somalian pirates off the coast of Africa of late (I find it difficult to believe that the civilized world cannot deal with these criminals once and for all, for Goddessake!), here is a timely article giving a brief history of pirates. Female pirates - the article mentions two: Anne Bonny and Mary Read (there were more). Some fascinating information about these two female pirates can be found at:

• The Legend of Anne and Mary, by Krewe of Bonney Read
• Wikipedia entry on Anne Bonny (quite sensational)
• Ahoy Matey, That Pirate Has Breasts!, a bio of Anne Bonny by Deanna J. Jones
• Anne Bonny, from Geographica.com

• Life in a Man's World: Mary Read, by Deanna J. Jones
• Wikipedia entry on Mary Read
• Mary Read, Fearless Female Pirate, by Henry Ramsager
• Mistresses of the Sea: Female Pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny