When it comes to our perception of pirates, Treasure Island has a lot to answer for. They didn't make their enemies walk the plank, they didn't keep parrots as pets, and they didn't bury their treasure. But that doesn't mean the golden age of piracy wasn't an era of swashbuckling rogues and sword fights on the high seas...

In the first episode of our 'Pirates' mini-series, Dan explores the facts behind the fiction behind the likes of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd with Sophie Nibbs, the curator of the new Pirates exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

You can discover more about the exhibition and book tickets here.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

Archive:

Treasure Island, RKO Pictures, 1950

Muppets Treasure Island, Walt Disney Pictures, 1996

Pirates of the Caribbean, Walt Disney Pictures, 2007

Treasure Island, Mercury Theatre, 1938

Join Dan and the team for the first-ever LIVE recording of Dan Snow's History Hit on Friday 12th September 2025!

To celebrate 10 years of the podcast, Dan is putting on a special show of signature storytelling, never-before-heard anecdotes from his often stranger-than-fiction career as well as answering the burning questions you've always wanted to ask! Get tickets here, before they sell out: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/dan-snows-history-hit/

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The Stone Age