Long John Silver; by Bjorn Larsson; Harvill Press, 1999, translated by Tom Geddes; ISBN 1-86046-539-0; £10.99; CA 15436

John Silver was born in Bristol in about 1685. After his father’s death his mother remarried and the family moved to Scotland where he was well educated. Hating both his stepfather and the schoolmaster, John Silver ran away to Glasgow where he was press-ganged onto a merchant ship plying the North Atlantic. He stayed on that ship for 10 years until it ran aground off the Irish coast.

Thus began a life of adventure on the high seas consisting mainly of smuggling, slaving and piracy. He even managed to become a consultant to Daniel Defoe while the latter was researching for his book History of the Pirates. Eventually Silver retired to Madagascar where he wrote his autobiography, which this entertaining novel purports to be. Great fun if you like stories of 18th century piracy. - AJH

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