Book Description

A biography and comprehensive bibliography of Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950) and his works is being presented for the first time anywhere. Sabatini is one of the most prolific and widely read novelists who specialized in making history live again through his fictional characterizations. He had a unique ability to use history as a background for fiction. Sabatini, half Italian but living and writing in England, was the master of romantic historical novels and has rightly been called by Jesse Knight The Last of the Great Swashbucklers. He was so immersed in his writing of historical fiction that he often referred to himself as a man out of his own time. Not only did he write interesting and well-told stories of romance and adventure, but the movies that followed were just as popular has his books. Sabatini's three most popular swashbuckling stories, still being read today, are Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk, and Scaramouche, and each was made into at least two movies. No author has better captured the imagination of so many with fiction filled with intrigues, escapes, romantic loves, devilish plots, and sword play.This new book includes a twenty-six page biography of the life of Sabatini written by the late Jesse F. Knight, who was the foremost expert in the world on his life and works. It also contains a bibliography of the first US and UK editions, as well as other significant editions, of all forty-seven of his books, prepared by Stephen Darley. The bibliography identifies all of the short story collections that have been published either in the US, the UK, or both. The bibliography also describes the dust jackets, with color photos of many of them, which are important to collectors and sellers. Book collectors and those who love Sabatinis fiction will find this book an invaluable guide to determine the accuracy of first edition offerings, to understand what dust jackets are available, or to develop a library of Sabatini novels.