Rafael Sabatini

Rafael Sabatini (1875 - 1950) was an Italian-born English writer of historical adventure stories. The two best-known are Scaramouche and Captain Blood: His Odyssey, both of which have been filmed multiple times. The 1935 film version of Captain Blood launched Errol Flynn to stardom.


 * The Lovers of Yvonne ( AKA The Suitors of Yvonne) (1902)
 * The Tavern Knight (1904)
 * Bardelys the Magnificent (1906)
 * The Trampling of the Lilies (1906)
 * Love-At-Arms (1907)
 * The Shame of Motley (1908)
 * St. Martin's Summer (1909)
 * Mistress Wilding ( AKA Anthony Wilding) (1910)
 * The Lion's Skin (1911)
 * The Strolling Saint (1913; revised 1925)
 * The Gates of Doom (1914)
 * The Sea Hawk (1915) -- Provided the title, but little else, for Errol Flynn's 1940 The Sea Hawk
 * The Snare (1917)
 * Scaramouche (1921)
 * Captain Blood: His Odyssey (1922)
 * Fortune's Fool (1923)
 * The Carolinian (1924)
 * Bellarion the Fortunate (1926)
 * The Hounds of God (1928)
 * The Romantic Prince (1929)
 * The King's Minion ( AKA The Minion) (1930)
 * Scaramouche the Kingmaker (1931)
 * The Black Swan (1932) -- Adapted into a 1942 Tyrone Power film of the same name; not to be confused with Darren Aronofsky's similarly titled 2010 film.
 * The Stalking Horse (1933)
 * Venetian Masque (1934)
 * Chivalry (1935)
 * The Lost King (1937)
 * The Sword of Islam (1939)
 * The Marquis of Carabas ( AKA Master-At-Arms) (1940)
 * Columbus (1941)
 * King In Prussia ( AKA The Birth of Mischief (1944)
 * The Gamester (1949)


 * Hanging Judge: Judge Jeffreys in Captain Blood: His Odyssey.
 * The Highwayman: Sabatini wrote many stories about highwaymen, including several concerning the fortunes of a charming rogue who called himself "Captain Evans".
 * Historical Domain Character: Too numerous to list.
 * Historical Fiction: Most of what he wrote.
 * Historical Villain Upgrade: King James II in Captain Blood: His Odyssey.
 * Not in This For Your Revolution: This is a recurring theme in Sabatini's novels: a non-idealistic character is pointedly not supporting a less competent idealistic character on his/her quest. Then the forces the idealist opposes hurts the non-idealist or those he cares for. This is a Bad Move.
 * Scooby-Doo Hoax: "The Plague of Ghosts"
 * Swashbuckler: Most of what he wrote.
 * This Is My Name on Foreign: In Captain Blood: His Odyssey, the title character Peter Blood is known as Don Pedro Sangre and Le Sang when dealing with the Spanish and French respectively.
 * Wooden Ships and Iron Men: Captain Blood: His Odyssey, The Sea Hawk