Penguin Modern Classics: Cup Of Gold: A Life Of Sir Henry Morgan

Steinbeck’s first novel is the marvellously gripping story of the infamous pirate Henry Morgan, who ruled the Spanish Main in the 1670s, ravaging the coast of Cuba and America and striking terror wherever he went. His lust and his greed knew no bounds, and he was utterly comsumed by two passions: to possess the mysterious woman known as ‘La Santa Roja’, the Red Saint, and to conquer Panama and wrest the ‘cup of gold’ from Spanish hands. Originally subtitled ‘A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, with Occasional Reference to History’, this is a colourful, swashbuckling work of historical fiction.