Buccaneer, by Dudley Pope

This is the first book in the Buccaneer Ned Yorke series by Dudley Pope. It takes place in the1650s. The main character is Ned Yorke, who lives contentedly on his Barbados plantation. Buccaneer, by Dudley Pope However, he is a Royalist, from a Royalist family, and in England Cromwell now holds power and is coming down hard on Royalists. Thus Yorke gets word from England that his father, the sixth Earl of Ilex, has had to run to France from Cromwell's forces, that the family’s properties in England have been confiscated, and that the Roundheads will soon be arriving in the Caribbean. When they arrive there, they are likely to come after Ned.

So, to avoid imprisonment, Ned and his household decide to sail off on his ship the Griffin; also aboard will be Ned's great unconsummated love, French-born Aurelia, wife of Ned's evil nemesis Wilson - a neighboring plantation-owner.

To survive Ned and his crew realizes that the only possible option is the pirate's life - smuggling goods, capturing ships, whatever it takes. Ned teams up with fellow Royalist buccaneer Sir Thomas Whetstone, real-life nephew of Oliver Cromwell - who sails his own ship with the lovely Diana as sassy second-in-command. And eventually the two smuggling ships head for Jamaica together - where the English governor is in deep trouble, about to be overrun by the Spanish. In order to help the British, and further their own interests, they launch a preventive attack on the Spanish fleet in Santiago.

Buccaneer is an interesting book that retells the story of an historical event and an era in an interesting way. However, it is not nearly as good as many of Dudley Pope’s other books, especially his Lord Ramage series. Even so, Buccaneer is an interesting, light and entertaining read.

Links to Dudley Pope's Ned Yorke series at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

Galleon, by Dudley Pope

Galleon is the third book in Galleon, by Dudley Pope the Ned Yorke series. In Jamaica Ned Yorke, the leader of the buccaneers, and Sir Thomas Whetstone, his second-in-command, begin to build homes on their plantations. They are now both extremely rich men. But trouble is brewing in the Caribean, and when a new governor arrives from England, he soon turns out to completely lack an understanding of the realities of the Carribbean, and declares Ned to be an outlaw.

England has fallen under a blanket of peace with the restoration of Charles II. But even though there nominally is peace with Spain, there is No Peace Beyond the Line. However, the new Governor is unable to understand this - he believes more in letters on a piece of paper signed in Europe than the harsh realities of the situation in the Caribbean communicatet to him by Ned Yorke and others with knowledge of local conditions.

But Ned Yorke, Admiral of the Brethren, leader of the Buccaneers will not kowtow to the new Governor. Neither will Ned Yorke and his Buccaneers not remain idle. In the third book in the series, again set in the Caribbean, Dudley Pope reveals a masterful plot of subtle, seafaring lore wound around the tense excitement of adventure on the high seas. Galleon tells a tale full of fighting, conflicts, and treachery. Great entertainment!