The Curse Of Treasure Island

In 1883, Treasure Island established Robert Louis Stevenson's literary reputation and brought him instant fame. Its characters gained a permanent place in popular culture, especially the memorable one-legged rascal Long John Silver and his parrot, Cap'n Flint, squawking, "Pieces of Eight!" Now Francis Bryan gives due homage to the immortal original with this thrilling sequel. It is ten years since the Hispaniola sailed with its hoard of gold from Treasure Island. Now twenty-four, Jim Hawkins is doing well as a boastful local hero. Life is comfortable, if not too exciting -- until a beautiful young woman in distress appears. Smitten, Jim is soon led into some very rough waters. With no alternative, he returns to "that accursed island," where his comrades marooned three mutinous pirates a decade earlier, and learns the fate of Joseph Tait -- the most murderous buccaneer of them all.... Book jacket.

An in-depth look into the history of a Canadian island rumored to hold buried treasure and of centuries of failed attempts to claim the riches. Updated with new material from the author In 1795, a teenager discovered a mysterious circular depression in the ground on Oak Island, in Nova Scotia, Canada, and ignited rumors of buried treasure. Early excavators uncovered a clay-lined shaft containing layers of soil interspersed with wooden platforms, but when they reached a depth of ninety feet, water poured into the shaft and made further digging impossible. Since then, the mystery of Oak Island’s “Money Pit” has enthralled generations of treasure hunters, including a Boston insurance salesman whose obsession ruined him; a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and film star Errol Flynn. Perplexing discoveries have ignited explorers’ imaginations: a flat stone inscribed in code; a flood tunnel draining from a man-made beach; a torn scrap of parchment; stone markers forming a huge cross. Swaths of the island were bulldozed looking for answers; excavation attempts have claimed two lives. Theories abound as to what’s hidden on Oak Island–pirates’ treasure, Marie Antoinette’s lost jewels, the Holy Grail, proof that Sir Francis Bacon was the true author of Shakespeare’s plays–yet to this day, the Money Pit remains an enigma. The Curse of Oak Island is a fascinating account of the strange, rich history of the island and the intrepid treasure hunters who have driven themselves to financial ruin, psychotic breakdowns, and even death in pursuit of answers. And as Michigan brothers Marty and Rick Lagina become the latest to attempt to solve the mystery, as documented on the History Channel’s television show The Curse of Oak Island, Sullivan takes readers along to follow their quest firsthand. Praise for The Curse of Oak Island “Sullivan writes with open-minded balance, rendering the Oak Island story into a weirdly fascinating mystery.” —Booklist “A definitive read for fans of the History Channel television show. Sullivan delves deeper into the history, personalities, and theories presented only briefly on the show. . . . The book is incredibly well researched and the presentation . . . is very readable. If you’ve watched The Curse of Oak Island and were frustrated that snippets and possibilities were left tantalizingly unexplored, this is the book for you.” —Heather Cover, Homewood Library (Birmingham, Alabama) “Sullivan isn’t writing about Oak Island the TV show; his subject is Oak Island the place, largely as seen and imagined by the show’s viewers. So, if you’ve ever been more entranced by the show’s long trips into history and theoretical island encounters across history, Sullivan’s book probably needs to be on your Christmas list.” —Starcasm

Ten years after the Hispaniola sailed away from Treasure Island with her cargo of gold, Jim Hawkins, now a young man, is landlord of the Admiral Benbow. Into his comfortable, uneventful life comes a mysterious young woman with a child, urgently seeking his help ¿ and Jim finds himself once more on the Hispaniola , sailing back to the 'accursed island' he swore never to set foot on again. Violence, murder, and the quest for treasure make for a cliffhanging adventure revolving round the enigmatic figure of Grace Richardson. In this gripping, powerful sequel to one of the best-loved books of all time, Francis Bryan reintroduces all our favourite characters: Squire Trelawney, Dr Livesey, Ben Gunn and best of all Long John Silver, who is lured from retirement to climb the heights of Spy-Glass Hill with Jim. With the spare, vivid language and the same swashbuckling pace as Robert Louis Stevenson, he tells the story in Jim Hawkins' own words. The book is a tour de force that will appeal to all those who have read and loved Treasure Island.

It started on a summer afternoon in 1795 when a young man named Daniel McGinnis found what appeared to be an old site on an island off the Acadian coast, a coastline fabled for the skullduggery of pirates. The notorious Captain Kidd was rumored to have left part of his treasure somewhere along here, and as McGinnis and two friends started to dig, they found what turned out to be an elaborately engineered shaft constructed of oak logs, nonindigenous coconut mats, and landfill that came to be known as the Money Pit. Ever since that summer day in 1795, the possibility of what might be hidden in the depths of a small island off the south coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, has made it the site of the world's longest, most expensive, and most perplexing treasure hunt. Author D'Arcy O'Connor recounts the fascinating stories and amazing discoveries of past and current treasure seekers who have sought Oak Island's fabled treasure for over two hundred years. It has baffled scientists and madmen, scholars and idiots, millionaires and get-rich-quick schemers, psychics, engineers, charlatans, and even a former president of the United States. The island has consumed the fortunes-and in some cases, the lives-of those who have obsessively set out to unlock its secret. Despite all their efforts, the mystery remains unsolved, and not a single dime of treasure has ever been recovered. The present-day search is an archaeological dig exceeding anything ever done anywhere for similar purposes, and it may well result in the discovery of one of the world's richest and most historically significant treasures. But this is also the story of individuals who have dedicated years of their lives to discover what was buried long ago beneath this strange island. They are driven by a lust for gold, by archaeological curiosity, and by their determination to outwit the engineer who was responsible for the Oak Island enigma.

For more than two centuries, Oak Island, Nova Scotia, has been studied, searched, probed and cursed all the while failing to give up its secrets. Joy Steele's ground-breaking historical research into the island's true history is no less intriguing. In this second edition, Ms. Steele is joined by professional geologist Gordon Fader to not only solidify her theory, but to expand on it, including a thorough explanation of the area's geology.

More than two centuries ago, compelling evidence of buried treasure was found on Nova Scotia's Oak Island. Since then, extensive engineering works have been discovered and mysterious objects unearthed in and around the island's "Money Pit." The ongoing search has been featured on a long-running popular television series, but to this day, the island guards its secrets. In this book, historian John Bell presents all the competing theories — about who buried treasure on the island and how the complex structures in the Money Pit that have kept treasure hunters at bay were created. Is the island the former settlement of pre-Columbian Vikings? The location of a lost pirate treasure or royal treasures from England? The hiding spot for rogue captains of Spanish treasure ships? John Bell presents each theory in turn. Bell also provides a detailed illustration of the mysterious work that was done on the island prior to the discovery of the Money Pit in 1795. The illustration shows each element of the Pit's design as it was first built — including elaborate flood tunnels, a cave-in shaft, and more. This book offers a fascinating opportunity to explore many centuries of world history from the perspective of one of the greatest mysteries of all time. The extensive visuals showcase what treasures could have been hidden, and illustrate the lives of the adventurers, renegades, pirates, politicians, and paranormal entities that might be responsible for this puzzle.

Jim Hawkins, the cabin-boy hero of Treasure Island, has grown up. With his fortune from the South Seas, he has expanded and improved the family inn, the old Admiral Benbow, on the coast of Somerset, where, from behind the bar, he regales travelers with tales of Long John Silver, Ben Gunn, Billy Bones, and the parrot that shrieks "pieces of eight, pieces of eight" - Cap'n Flint. Then one day, the mail coach deposits a beautiful stranger and her young son, and asks Jim to help her find somebody - Joseph Tait, one of the pirates they left behind on Treasure Island.