Captain Blood [Hardcover]

Rafael Sabatini (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (1950)
• ASIN: B0027RJFD2
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of my all-time favorite books, September 2, 2010

By 

Missapple "Linda Cameron" (Tri-Cities, WA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Captain Blood (Kindle Edition)

I have read Captain Blood many times. I enjoy it more each time. It is a masterpiece of swashbuckling adventure and romance. Maybe it is because it was written in 1935, but it is so nice to read stories that do not have gratuitous sex scenes added or a lot of graphic violence. The language is much more flowery than what we normally get in today's novels.

I wish someone would do a remake of Captain Blood, the movie. The Errol Flynn movie is still good, but with today's special effects, it could be really good if they didn't ruin it like Disney ruined the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with too much absurdity. The books are great though.

By the way, there are two sequels of this book. They do not take place after this book, but are more adventures that would have been during the time of this story, but didn't get put into this book because it would have been a lot more pages. These sequels are both as enjoyable as this book to read.

Since all of Rafael Sabatini's books are now in the public domain, one great perk for people who have a Kindle or an iPhone with a Kindle app, you can get these books for free as eBooks.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgia, November 11, 2010

By 

Arthur L. Finn - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Captain Blood (Kindle Edition)

I read this diligently in 7th grade at PA 117 Bx. It was the only part of school I liked. It taught me the beauty and majesty of books. I read it to my grandson with joy and appreciation. Bless you Raphael Sabatini.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The quintessential adventure story, June 28, 2011

By 

Patto (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Captain Blood (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

First published in 1922, Captain Blood is totally satisfying on many levels: as a classic sea story, a swashbuckling adventure, an anti-war novel awash in bloody battles and an epic romance.

Rafael Sabatini loved history and considered it the ultimate adventure story. He set his immortal tale in the turbulent times of King James II.

We meet Irish-born Peter Blood in England sedately practicing medicine, though in the past he's seen plenty of action at sea. His medical career is over overnight when he treats a rebel lord wounded in the Monmouth revolt (1685). For this good deed, he's transported as a traitor and sold into slavery in Barbados. How he escapes a living death on the plantation, becomes a pirate and reinvents himself again and again is the heart of this amazing adventure.

Peter Blood is an early superhero, adept at everything his does - whether doctoring, pirating, dressing to perfection, directing navel battles or fighting one-on-one. I had no trouble believing his impossible exploits thanks to Sabatini's skill at bringing the period to life and cleverly interweaving fact and fiction. Of course I also wanted to believe in Captain Blood because he's such a charmer.

I loved the love story between Captain Blood and the daughter of the governor of Barbados, which spans years and is all verbal sparring and silently smoldering attraction. Equally I loved being plunged into the heat of naval battles and watching Captain Blood think and fight his way out of absurdly tight spots.

After reading the book, I found the introduction in my Penguin Classic edition yet another treat. The editor does a fine job of tracing the evolution of the swashbuckling trickster hero in fiction. He explores actual characters who inspired Captain Blood and places this historical novel in its own proper historical context.