David Cordingly is an English naval historian with a special interest in pirates. He held the position of Keeper of Pictures and Head of Exhibitions at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

in Greenwich, England for twelve years. David Cordingly organised several exhibitions at the

, including ''Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

, Navigator'' and ''The

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...

''. One of these exhibitions was ''Pirates: Fact and Fiction'', which became a critical and popular success, followed by a book of the same title, authored by Cordingly and John Falconer. Cordingly explored the subject further in his book ''Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates''. This was followed by ''Heroines and Harlots: Women at Sea in the Great Age of Sail'' (published in the U.S. under the title ''Women Sailors and Sailors' Women: An Untold Maritime History''), expanding on a subject Cordingly had touched upon in ''Under the Black Flag'' in a chapter entitled "Women Pirates and Pirates' Women". In 2002, Cordingly wrote an introduction to the republication of

Captain Charles Johnson Captain Charles Johnson was the British author of the 1724 book ''A General History of the Pyrates, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates'', whose identity remains a mystery. No record exists of a captain b ...

's 1724 book ''

A General History of the Pyrates ''A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates'', or simply ''A General History of the Pyrates'', is a 1724 book published in Britain containing biographies of contemporary pirates,Wolfson History Prize The Wolfson History Prizes are literary awards given annually in the United Kingdom to promote and encourage standards of excellence in the writing of history for the general public. Prizes are given annually for two or three exceptional work ...

. It tells the story of an English warship, HMS ''Bellerophon'', which played an important part in many battles and held captive the defeated

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

following the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

. Cordingly appears on the '' Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' DVD bonus features in a section called "Below Deck", a virtual tour of a pirate ship. This consists of several documentary shorts, hosted by Cordingly, comparing piracy fact and fiction along the same lines as ''Under the Black Flag''. Cordingly resides with his wife and family in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, Sussex.About the author
Davidcordingly.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.

Bibliography

*(with Falconer, John) ''Pirates: Fact & Fiction'' ( Collins & Brown, 1992) *''Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates'' (

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, 1995) *''Heroines and Harlots: Women at Sea in the Great Age of Sail'' ( Macmillan, 2001) *''The Billy Ruffian: His Majesty's Ship Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon'' (

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, 2003) * *''Spanish Gold: Captain Woodes Rogers & the Pirates of the Caribbean'' (Bloomsbury, 2011)

References

External links

David Cordingly bibliography on Library Thing
by David Templeton
David Cordingly's home site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordingly, David English naval historians People from Brighton Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people)