1 - Cup of Gold (1929)

Summary

Will Cuppy.

“Cup of Gold.”

New York Herald Tribune,

18 August 1929, “Books”

section, p. 12.

Being a life of Henry Morgan, buccaneer, with occasional references to history, and a promising stab at a novel of adventure. Strangely enough, the tale lacks the color and spirit traditional to its genre, perhaps because the author has preferred to tinker with a realistic method-or maybe it was an oversight. Mr. Steinbeck lapses into pedestrian narrative at times, but even so, enough brave names and places are bandied about to hold the interest of most fans; and Mr. Steinbeck's graceful manner lifts the yarn above the adventure groceries of this degenerate age. The tale tells of Henry's boyhood in the Welsh glens, his sailing for the Indies at the age of fifteen, his slavery in Barbados and later triumphs on the Spanish Main, including the sack of Panama, the Cup of Gold, for love of the mysterious Ysobel, alias the Red Saint, and his respectable death years later as lieutenant governor of Jamaica.

“Cup of Gold.”

St. Louis Star,

1 September 1929, p. 11.

Henry Morgan, pirate, freebooter and lieutenant governor, whose greatest ambition was to sack “The Cup of Gold” in Panama, has, through the pen of John Steinbeck, presented his life story for the readers of good fiction in one of the latest books from the Robert McBride Publishing Company. While most previous stories, whether historical or fictional of Morgan's life, were written for the consumption of school boys, here is one that is decidedly not for juvenile perusal. For here is presented Morgan's complete life (including his loves) dealing with every phase, whether real or legendary, of England's most noted buccaneer.