Of Captain Mission

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Of Captain Mission is the first chapter of Volume 2 of A General History of the Robberies and Murder of the Most Notorious Pyrates, first published in 1724. The book was an immediate bestseller, and an expanded edition with Volume 2 was published in 1726. Written when many of the pirates described were still roaming the sea, the stories included vivid descriptions of the famous rogues, Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and Bartholomew Roberts, along with female pirates, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. In fact, it was this book that established the reputations of many of these pirates. Originally published by "Capt. Charles Johnson," an American Defoe scholar attributed this work to Daniel Defoe in 1932. As a result, Defoe was widely accepted as the author of this book. This is still accepted by many today, although modern scholars have presented evidence that Defoe may not have been the author--the issue of authorship remains a subject for debate.