author
James Burney
1750–1821
A Royal Navy officer who sailed with Captain James Cook on his last two voyages, he later turned those experiences into major works on Pacific exploration. His life connects sea adventure, scholarship, and one of England’s most remarkable literary families.
1 Audiobook
History of the Buccaneers of America
by James Burney
About the author
Born in London on June 13, 1750, James Burney was the son of music historian Charles Burney and the brother of novelist Frances Burney. He went to sea young and built a naval career that took him around the world, most notably on Captain James Cook’s second and third voyages.
Those voyages shaped the work he became best known for later in life. Burney wrote extensively about exploration and maritime history, including his multi-volume A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean, a major account of European exploration in the Pacific. He also edited William Bligh’s Voyage to the South Sea.
Burney eventually reached the rank of rear-admiral and died on November 17, 1821. Remembered both as a sailor and a writer, he stands out as a firsthand witness to the great age of Pacific voyaging who also helped record and interpret it for later readers.