Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon Defoe

The Pirates! in an adventure with Scientists is a silly book by Gideon Defoe. As you can probably guess from the title it is about some pirates. And some scientists. The pirates aren’t especially scary although you wouldn’t want to mess with them as they are still handy with a cutlass. They sail around having adventures and singing sea shanties.

The pirates are lead by the Pirate Captain, who has exceptionally nice hair. The pirates don’t have names, just descriptions. For example, the one with the red scarf and the one with a hook for a hand. You have all of your stereotypical pirate personalities amongst the crew which is good because that way you know they are serious about pirating.

The main scientist that they encounter is Charles Darwin. He is on his way back to England having done some research on chimpanzees. The only problem is that Darwin’s brother has gone missing and is suspected of being kidnapped by the Bishop of Oxford. The pirates offer to help Darwin find his brother, although they need to be careful as they aren’t strictly supposed to be in England after what happened last time.

The book is a quick, fun read and is in many ways a book version of some of the modern animated films. It is fine for all ages but there is something extra for adults too with the subtle jokes. There are also references to other things that you may need to be middle class to get such as Desert Island Discs. Adding these goodies makes you pleased when you spot them but fit with the story in a way that it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t.

Defoe has put footnotes for some of the things he mentions in the book. These are facts that are related to something he has mentioned in the book, like the history of walking the plank. For people like me who struggle to read non-fiction but like learning facts, this is a fun way to do it. You read about pirates doing piratey things and learn about the history of pirating at the same time.

This is a fun book that you can enjoy on more than one level. It is pure silliness at times and at others, while still silly, it does incorporate a certain amount of historical accuracy. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked it up but I wasn’t disappointed. In some ways it does feel more like a children’s book than an adult one but there’s nothing wrong with that. I would read more of The Pirates! series as the titles sound fun.

If you need a book to cheer you up, I would recommend this. It just takes the piss out of the stereotypes of the time. At the end of the book there are also some discussion questions a la book group reads. Only I don’t think book groups will be asking each other whether one of the main themes of the book is ham.

Overall rating 3 out of 5