The Last of the Great Swashbucklers: A Bio-Bibliography of Rafael Sabatini

By Jesse F. Knight, Stephen Darley

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This volume is an extensive reference for the book collector and fan of the Anglo-Italian historical adventure writer. The bibliography contains a listing of all 47 of Sabatini’s books, identifying first UK and US editions with many color photographs of dust jackets. A listing of Sabatini’s short fiction and films based on his works is also included.

Most interesting is a brief biography by Jesse F. Knight. Sabatini (1875-1950) spoke multiple European languages, succeeding in his maternal country of England in commerce as a translator. But his ambitions were literary, and he chose to write in English because “all the best stories seem to be written in English.” At the height of his career Sabatini produced a novel a year. He was not published in America until 1921, when his novel Scaramouche went through six printings the summer of its release. “…After twenty years of arduous toil, I was repaid in generous measure. And oddly enough, it came from America,” the author recalled. Scaramouche, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk are Sabatini’s best known novels. This slim volume is a comprehensive reference of the superb adventure writer’s career and books.