Under the Black Ensign (Stories from the Golden Age) (Historical Fiction Short Stories Collection) - Softcover

L. Ron Hubbard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1592123392 ISBN 13: 9781592123391

Publisher: Galaxy Press, 2008

Synopsis

Long before Captain Jack Sparrow raised hell with the Pirates of the Caribbean, Tom Bristol sailed to hell and back Under the Black Ensign. That’s where the real adventure begins.

Bristol’s had plenty of bad luck in his life. Press-ganged into serving aboard a British vessel, he’s felt the cruel captain’s lash on his back. Then, freed from his servitude by pirates, his good fortune immediately takes a bad turn . . . as the pirates accuse him of murder—and leave him to die on a deserted island. Now all he has left are a few drops of water, a gun, and just enough bullets to put himself out of his misery.

But Bristol’s luck is about to change. Finding himself in the unexpected company of a fiery woman and a crafty crew, he unsheathes his sword, raises a pirate flag of his own, and sets off to make love and war on the open seas.

In his early twenties, Hubbard led the two-and-a-half-month, five-thousand-mile Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition. He followed that with the West Indies Mineralogical Expedition near San Juan, Puerto Rico, in which he completed the island’s first mineralogical survey as an American territory. It was during these two journeys that Hubbard became an expert on the Caribbean’s colorful history—an expertise he drew on to write stories like Under the Black Ensign.

 “A riveting tale of sailing ships, piracy and the high seas.” —Midwest Book Review

* A National Indie Excellence Award Winner

About this title

About the Author:

As one of the 20 top bestselling authors of all time, with more than 325 million works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard stands alongside an illustrious company of writers. But he also stands alone—as an author who actually lived many of the stories he wrote.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

The time-honored cry of the sea floated down to them from the foretop. “Sail ho!” All eyes went aloft. The lash was momentarily forgotten. The sail must be very close, otherwise it would not have been announced.

“Where away?” shouted Mannville.

“Off the starboard, coming across our bows!”

Men leaped to the rail. The haze of light cast up by the sun on water momentarily blinded them. And then they saw the ship. It was sailing against the morning sun, full-rigged, tall-masted, gilded sterncastle sparkling. It was a bark of about sixty guns. Against the light, its sails looked black.

Even as they stared at it, a roll of bunting went up the truck and burst. Its identity was unmistakable. A grinning skull against an ebon field.                

—L. Ron Hubbard

About this edition

• Publisher: Galaxy Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1592123392
• ISBN 13: 9781592123391
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 121