commanded by the famous French corsair, Cornil Saus.[6] So convincing is
Defoe that although his hero is shown meeting a real freebooter, Captain
Tew, ten years after Tew's death, Misson is still included in the
histories of piracy.[7]

Also typical of Defoe's fiction is the relationship between Captain
Misson, the leader, and his intellectual mentor, Carracioli. Colonel
Jack and his tutor, Moll Flanders and her Governess and particularly,
Captain Singleton and William Walters form similar groups. Just as
William Walters, a Quaker, reminds Captain Singleton and the crew that
their business is not fighting but making money, so Carracioli addresses
lengthy speeches to the crew, converting everyone on the _Victoire_ to
democracy and deism. Misson's Libertalia takes root in Madagascar, where
Singleton wanted to establish a colony, while both Carracioli and
Walters adapt the secular aspects of their religion to piracy. But
whereas Walters eventually converts Singleton into an honest Christian,
Carracioli leads Misson into piracy.

In the history "Of Captain Misson and his Crew," Defoe decided to pursue
the same method of third person narrative as in his brief biographies of
real pirates. The result is that he merely provides a sketch of
political theories rather than a study of human beings. Of course there
are good reasons for this. Defoe was more interested in dramatizing
proletarian utopian ideals than in developing the inner workings of
Misson's mind. The novelette is unified by its epic theme, not by its
study of character or its episodic plot.

Although Defoe toyed with radical notions throughout _The History of the
Pyrates_, he had little faith in their practicality. Libertalia must be
understood as Defoe's best expression of political and social ideals