Captain Blood (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) »

Captain Blood, one of the most popular adventure tales of the early twentieth century, recounts the story of a seventeenth-century medical doctor who turns pirate when his respectable, quiet life is overtaken by political events beyond his control. It imagines how lives were altered by the turmoil surrounding the English succession following the death of Charles II in 1685.

In the early years of the movie industry, the book spawned several films, including a 1935 film that catapulted Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland to stardom. Captain Blood remains an entertaining page-turner and an excellent example of early historical fiction.

About the Author
Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950) was born in Jesi, Italy, to Vincenzo and Anna Trafford Sabatini, both professional opera singers. Early in his life, Rafael Sabatini attended school in Switzerland and Portugal, learning five languages before he moved to England as a teenager and mastered English. His skill with languages enabled him to work briefly in international commerce, later for a publishing house, and during World War II as a translator for the Intelligence Department of the British government's War Office. As a novelist, Sabatini's linguistic abilities allowed him to read a wide variety of historical materials in their original languages, and he freely adapted their content for his novels.