Rafael Sabatini
by George Alex Windish

I like to read an occasional historical romance, even though my teenaged son looks at me worriedly when I do. I enjoy most of them, because when you take away the romantic aspect of it, you are often left with a crackling good adventure yarn. There is nothing new about this, since the same type of books were being written in the 1920s by Rafael Sabatini.

Sabatini was born in Italy in 1878 to an Italian father and an English mother. Both were opera singers, and since their work caused them to travel extensively, they sent young Rafael to school in England. He excelled in both reading and languages, and the love of foreign tongues remained until he had not only mastered English, but also Portuguese, French and German.
Though not his initial book, Sabatini's first success was SCARAMOUCHE, a romantic novel with the French Revolution as a backdrop. It was published in 1921.

The following year, he released CAPTAIN BLOOD, a story of love and adventure on the High Seas. During the 1930's, Hollywood filmed both of these swashbuckling novels, and CAPTAIN BLOOD transformed Errol Flynn into a star. Sabatini's books were well received in Hollywood, and several others were filmed.

Sabatini was a fast writer, managing to turn out a book a year. His body of work consists of 31 novels, 8 short story colections and 6 books of poetry.


George Alex Windish has been writing for many years, and has become a better typist, if nothing else. He has placed nearly a dozen short stories of horror and science fiction, has had a weekly column in a local Baltimore newspaper, and has written for and edited COUNTRY LINE, a small Pennsylvania magazine. He has also done ad copy and correspondence for businesses.  He has long been a fan of genre literature and truly tacky movies, as well as being a collector of vintage records.  Contact him at GeorgeWindish@aol.com. 

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