Stephanie Bearce’s “Top Secret Files” series proves just how interesting history can be. These books are jam-packed with facts that will inform and entertain any age.

This latest installment is a fascinating look at the lives of pirates, often obliterating misconceptions about the “pirate’s life,” such as buried treasure, treasure maps, and walking the plank. Pirates’ lives were extremely difficult, and stories abound with “icky” facts guaranteed to keep young readers enthralled.

The book is divided into sections: Pirate Problems, Weapons, Words, & Wardrobe, VIPs (very important pirates), and Pirate’s Treasure, and each section is followed by hands-on activities, including how to make sea biscuits, play a pirate dice game, and make a catapult.

The chapters are short and easily digestible (if you can stomach hearing all about scurvy, lice, and dysentery) with lots of extra sidebars, plus links to online extras and many reference materials. Excellent addition to any home or classroom!

Ah, the life of a pirate.  Treasure, sailing the high seas, living a life of excess.  Sounds daring and intriguing -- or not.  Author Stephanie Bearce takes an honest look at the life of history's real-life pirates, like Black Beard, Sadie the Goat, and Stede Bonnet.  Unlike what many are led to believe in storybooks, all was not well for these salt-water adventurers.  In reality, pirates lived relatively short lives filled with sickness, hard work, unsanitary conditions, and limited food options.  And the chance of an untimely, violent death was highly likely.  Bearce includes extras like a recipe for sea biscuits, a code guide, pirate flags, and a game.  This book is one of the latest in her highly successful "Top Secret Files" series, and promises to interest even reluctant readers.