During the early
18th centu y, the
heyday of Anglo-
American piracy, two
women, Anne Bonny
and May Read,
joined the crew of
Calico Jack Rackam,
a notorious
Caribbean pirate.
As historian
Marcus Rediker
relates, their choice
was not unique.
It placed them
in the company of
others of their
gender~sailors,
soldiers, adventurers-
who "seized liberty"
from society
by disguising

themselves as men.

Mary Read

102 WQ AUTUMN 1993

Sailed the Seen
In late 1720 Jamaica's most...