Originally Published in 1935.
Re-published by Galaxy Press in e-book format in 2008.
Originally published in the pulp magazine Five Novels Monthly in 1935, Under the Black Ensign is a Caribbean pirate story set in the late 1600s. It is the story of Tom Bristol, a crewman on a British naval vessel who moves from one ship to another and another and another as he has a series of improbably adventures.
While the story is laughably improbable, it is entertaining, and moves very quickly.
Hubbard uses authentic terms for parts and stations of the ship. The e-book is equipped with hyperlinks in the text that go to a rather large glossary. Some of the language involving black characters in the back sound archaic and grating to modern sensibilities, but Hubbard demonstrated very egalitarian racial attitudes in this e-book.
I rate this e-book 3 stars out of 5. It's a good bit of mindless adventure. It can be found of Amazon.com here: Under the Black Ensign.
