19 h 42 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 19 h 42 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does loyalty mean when a hidden past can pull duty and survival in different directions?
In Anna Maria Hall's The Buccaneer, England lives in the aftermath of civil war under Oliver Cromwell. Loyalties divide, secrets matter, and the sea holds danger as well as freedom. This historical novel brings together ships, hidden pasts, and the uneasy pull between conscience and the need to survive.
The tale belongs to the tradition of historical romance, with adventure set against political upheaval. Its title points toward a sea adventurer's uncertain ground between lawful service and piracy. Secrecy and loyalty shape the world you enter: a place where a concealed purpose makes trust a difficult matter.
What you’ll discover
- An England divided Enter Cromwell's England, where the aftermath of civil war gives divided loyalties their weight.
- Danger beyond the shore Discover the sea as a place of freedom, risk, and uncertain boundaries.
- The pull of secrets Explore the tension of hidden pasts and purposes concealed from others.
- Loyalty under pressure Consider what duty demands when conscience and survival pull in different directions.
- Adventure with a conscience Find a historical romance that brings moral questions into its world of ships and danger.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like sea adventure, smugglers and secret passages, and stories of divided loyalties, with a love story and a villain you can happily dislike.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Loyalty faces a test in darkness
- Dalton bargains with a hidden past
- Burrell breaks his word under pressure
- Friendship reveals Constance beyond her mourning
- Burrell exposes himself through his bargain
- Constance pays for her father's guilt
- Secrets separate people from their loved ones
- Love refuses the limits of rank
- Promises carry a human price
Who’s who
- Hugh DaltonA smuggler and pirate captain of the swift Fire-fly, he seeks a pardon from Cromwell and holds a dangerous secret over Sir Robert Cecil.
- Constance CecilThe grieving, dignified heiress of Cecil Place, she is promised in marriage to a man she cannot love and hopes to save her father.
- Sir Robert CecilA baronet and Puritan landowner, he is haunted by an old crime and fears that his daughter will learn the truth.
- Sir Willmott BurrellA smooth and treacherous knight, he wants the Cecil lands and will lie, bargain or threaten to keep his own wrongs hidden.
- Robin HaysA small, quick-witted man and Dalton's loyal friend, he sings sea songs, spies for his captain and secretly loves Barbara.
- Barbara IverkA gentle Puritan girl who attends Constance, she wants to stay faithful to her lady and to her own simple faith.
- Walter De GuerreA young Cavalier in a black cloak with a diamond-hilted sword, he hides his past and hopes to win Constance.
- Lady Frances CromwellThe Protector's lively youngest daughter, she stays with Constance, loves a joke and cannot resist a mystery.
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The Buccaneer
by Anna Maria Hall · 1832
A pirate captain climbs a Kent cliff at night to force a baronet into winning him a pardon.
Challenging10–20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
It is a February night in 1656, and three men moor a skiff beneath the dark cliffs of the Isle of Sheppey. One of them climbs a crumbling path and strides to a great house where a woman lies dying.
The Buccaneer at a glance
- Reading time
- About 11 h 10 min8 h 55 min fast, 13 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 160,000 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1832by Anna Maria Hall
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 smuggler climbs the cliff by night
The story opens on the Isle of Sheppey, off the Kent coast. Three men land in a small bay at night. Their leader is Hugh Dalton, known to his crew as the Skipper, a man of about fifty with a fierce eye and the strength of someone much younger.
He checks his pistols and climbs a cliff path hidden behind seaweed. Two steps are missing from it, and a fall would mean certain death. His young companion, a sailor named Springall, follows. At the top Dalton leaves the boy on watch with a whistle, a pistol and a password.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1832
- Language
- English
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Hall, Anna Maria. The Buccaneer. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-buccaneer.
Hall, A. M. (2026). The buccaneer. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-buccaneer (Original work published 1832)
Hall, Anna Maria. The Buccaneer. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-buccaneer.
@book{hall2026buccaneer,
author = {Hall, Anna Maria},
title = {The Buccaneer},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-buccaneer},
note = {First published 1832}
}
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What is The Buccaneer by Mrs. S. C. Hall about?
It follows a smuggler and pirate captain, Hugh Dalton, who in 1656 seeks a pardon from Cromwell. He holds a secret over Sir Robert Cecil, whose daughter Constance is promised to a treacherous knight.
Who is Hugh Dalton in The Buccaneer?
He is the master of the brigantine Fire-fly, a bold buccaneer and smuggler on the Kent coast. He is rough and fierce but loyal, and he is trying to give his young daughter a better life.
Is The Buccaneer a true story?
It is a work of fiction set in the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. Real people such as Cromwell, his daughter Frances and John Milton appear, but the main characters and the plot are invented.
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