Captain Kidd

A True Story of Treasure and Betrayal

By: Samuel Marquis

Narrated by: Shawn Compton

Captain William Kidd stands as one of the most notorious "pirate" outlaws ever, but his legend is tainted by a bed of lies. Having captivated imaginations for more than three hundred years and inspired many stories about pirates, troubling questions remain. Was he really a criminal or is the truth more inconvenient: that he was a buccaneer's worst nightmare, a revered pirate hunter turned fall guy for scheming politicians?

In Captain Kidd, his ninth-great-grandson, bestselling author Samuel Marquis, reveals the real story. Kidd was an English American privateer and leading New York husband and father. The King of England himself dubbed Kidd "trusty and well-beloved," and some historians describe him as a "worthy, honest-hearted, steadfast, much-enduring sailor" who was the "victim of a deliberate travesty of justice." With honors far more esteemed than the menacing Blackbeard, or any other sea rover at the turn of the seventeenth century, how can Kidd be considered both gentleman and pirate, both hero and villain?

Marquis' biography recreates Kidd's perilous world of explosive naval warfare and the daring integrity he exemplified as a pirate hunter, as well as the political scandal that entangled Kidd in British–American history, rocking the New World and the Old, and threatening England's valuable trade with India.

©2025 Samuel Marquis (P)2025 Highbridge Audio

I will never forget Captain Kidd.

I’m so grateful to the author for this incredible book about Captain Kidd. It took me on a whirlwind of emotions and left me deeply moved. By the end, I’d truly come to love Captain Kidd.

Captain Kidd

Very well researched, written and engaging story about an interesting historical figure. There is much to learn in this book not only about Captain Kidd and piracy but also about the political climate in England and the American colonies during this period of time

Unique take on the notorious.

New look at the “pirate” we all grew up with. Politics and money still drive actions