She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea

If a "hen frigate" was any ship carrying a captain's wife, then a "she captain" is a bold woman distinguished for courageous enterprise in the history of the sea. "She captains", who infamously possessed "the bodies of women and the souls of men", thrilled and terrorized their shipmates, doing "deeds beyond the valor of women".

In her inimitable, yarn-spinning style, award-winning historian Joan Druett tells us what life was like for the women who dared to captain ships of their own, don pirate garb, and perform heroic and hellacious deeds on the high seas.

From the warrior queens of the sixth century B.C. to the women shipowners influential in opening the Northwest Passage, Druett has assembled a real-life cast of characters whose boldness and bravado will capture popular imagination. Following the arc of maritime history from the female perspective, She Captains' intrepid crew sails forth into a sea of adventure.