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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 308 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 308 pagesAbout this book
What separates an act of plunder from an act of duty when a government licence permits both?
In The Privateer's-Man, One Hundred Years Ago, Frederick Marryat takes you into the eighteenth-century world of sailing ships and privateers. Britain is often at war with France and Spain. Private vessels hold licences to attack enemy shipping, turning the sea into a place where trade, danger and profit meet.
Aboard these ships, keeping a crew fed and a vessel trimmed matters as much as the promise of gain. Marryat brings a naval officer's eye to captains, crews and hard bargains. Beneath the lively adventure lies an uneasy question: what does honor mean when taking another man's property is lawful?
What you’ll discover
- Ships under sail Feel the demands of handling a vessel where practical skill shapes life aboard.
- Crews driven by gain Meet men whose hopes of profit test a captain's ability to keep order.
- The trouble with plunder Explore the uneasy ground between lawful seizure, loyalty to country and personal honor.
- A sailor's sharp eye Discover the daily details of food, ship handling and discipline that anchor the adventure.
- Humor among hard bargains Enjoy a direct, lively voice and sharp sketches of the people a sailor meets.
Who will love it
Readers who love sea battles, daring escapes, captivity in distant lands, and heroes testing their honor will enjoy this novel, as will admirers of Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Victory brings grief instead of pride
- Violence returns to the victors
- Whyna offers kindness during captivity
- Cunning need not end in cruelty
- Facing death changes his direction
- Principle costs him work and comfort
- Faith travels through loss and danger
- Honor means keeping your word
- Conscience becomes worth more than profit
Who’s who
- Alexander ElringtonThe narrator, a young privateer's man who longs for a life he can defend, and for the woman he loves.
- Captain WeatherallThe brave, generous commander of the Revenge, who will never lower his flag.
- Captain LeveeA stylish, openhanded privateer captain and loyal friend who spends his money as fast as he makes it.
- Mr. TrevannionA wealthy Liverpool shipowner who loves his daughter and profit, and must learn what his trade costs.
- Amy TrevannionThe shipowner's daughter, clear-eyed and firm, who wants her father to give up privateering and is drawn to the narrator.
- WhynaThe young favorite wife of an African king, who protects the narrator as her slave and companion.
- PhilipThe narrator's younger brother, a cheerful, hot-tempered young sailor who longs for fighting and glory.
- Captain TopliftA soft-hearted pirate captain who hates cold-blooded murder and wishes he were out of the trade.
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The Privateer's-Man, One Hundred Years Ago
by Frederick Marryat · 1846
After killing a French gentleman, a privateer's man faces years of captivity as his conscience and faith develop.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Frederick Marryat, one of the most brilliant, and the least fairly recognized, of English novelists, was born in Westminster, on the 10th July, 1792, some seven months before the outbreak of the Great War.”
In short
What does a young sailor feel when his pistol shot kills a man in front of the man's wife? Early in this book, aboard the privateer Revenge, he finds out.
The Privateer's-Man, One Hundred Years Ago at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 40 min6 h 5 min fast, 9 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 109,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1846by Frederick Marryat
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bloody victory leaves the narrator ashamed
The book opens with the Revenge, a privateer of fourteen guns under Captain Weatherall, hunting off Hispaniola. She catches a big French ship that carries a planter, his wife and his young son home to France. The planter fights at the head of his crew.
The last stand takes place at the cabin door. The narrator fires his pistol to save his lieutenant, and the bullet kills the planter. His wife throws herself at the English weapons, then faints on her husband's body.
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After killing a French gentleman, a privateer's man faces years of captivity as his conscience and faith develop.
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Details
- First published
- 1846
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 308 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 308 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 522 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 522 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Tue 1 Dec to Mon 7 Decto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Marryat, Frederick. The Privateer's-Man, One Hundred Years Ago. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-privateers-man-one-hundred-years-ago.
Marryat, F. (2026). The privateer's-man, one hundred years ago. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-privateers-man-one-hundred-years-ago (Original work published 1846)
Marryat, Frederick. The Privateer's-Man, One Hundred Years Ago. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-privateers-man-one-hundred-years-ago.
@book{marryat2026privateersman,
author = {Marryat, Frederick},
title = {The Privateer's-Man, One Hundred Years Ago},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-privateers-man-one-hundred-years-ago},
note = {First published 1846}
}
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What is The Privateer's-Man about?
It follows a young Englishman who serves on privateers, is captured in Africa, imprisoned in the Tower, and enslaved in Brazil, while coming to doubt the morality of plundering at sea and falling in love with a shipowner's daughter.
Who is Whyna in the story?
Whyna is the youngest and favorite wife of an African king. She takes the narrator as her slave during his captivity, treats him as a friend, and learns about writing from him, and he never forgets her kindness.
Is The Privateer's-Man a true story?
No, it is a novel by Frederick Marryat. He presents it as extracts from a journal, but it is fiction, drawing on real wars with France and the historical struggle over the Hanoverian succession.
The author
Frederick Marryat
1792–1848 · English naval novelist
Frederick Marryat (1792–1848) was a British naval officer and novelist. He was born in London and served in the Royal Navy from 1806 to 1830. He wrote Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836) and The Phantom Ship (1839). He later lived at Langham in Norfolk, where he died.
“We have done too much already.”
More by Frederick Marryat
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