Perhaps a better title for this collection of short stories might be Tales of Heroic Adventure, as only the leading text actually deals with pirates.

I quite enjoyed the stories, they're easy to read, yet quite compelling. Geographically they range all over. The first in the jungles of Malaya, then sailing off the stormy coast of Britain, rebel armies India, gold rush North America. Henty manages to capture the feeling of each region though his charcters, their hardship, and localised accents with jargon in the dialogue.

His tales are definately directed at a younger audience - at times there's great battles, guns and knives and spears... but rarely does anyone significant get mortally injured.

Overall this is a great book, you can pick it up, read a story, then switch to something else for a few days before coming back for further adventure.