Cup of Gold

Henry Morgan was a real pirate who terrorised the Spanish Main in the 17th century, and this novel imagines the restless ambition behind the legend. Tracing his path from a discontented youth in Wales to his fabled assault on Panama, the story follows a man driven by the pursuit of power and glory, and what that pursuit ultimately costs him. Blending documented history with myth, this is Steinbeck's first novel, written before the style that would define his later, better-known work.