Books by Rafael Sabatini
The Lovers of Yvonne, also titled The Suitors of Yvonne 1902: "You are not a coward, Monsieur," said the dark lady. "I have been accounted many unsavory things, Madame, but my bitterest enemies never dubbed me that." "Why, then, did you run away?" "Why? Ma foi! because in the excessive humility of my soul I recognized myself unfit to die." It was a day that set events in motion that shaped history for centuries to come.
The Tavern Knight 1904: Eighteen years ago, before Cromwell Sir Crispin Galliard, now known as the Tavern Knight was in service of King Charles. Galliard was another man -- a man with another name, a man who had a life, a future, and a heritage -- including hereditary lands and titles that would come to him in time. That was Eighteen years ago, but now the war had taken it all away.
Bardelys the Magnificent 1906: The hero, a handsome, reckless favorite of the French monarch Louis XIII, wagers his estate with a rival for the King's favor that he can win a beautiful heiress in the province of Languedoc whom his opponent has courted in vain. How he goes to Languedoc and is promptly snared in the web of rebellion that has been woven against the King, how he is wounded in battle and seeks shelter in the castle of the girl's father, who welcomes him as one of the rebels, how he woos the girl, overcomes his rival, and escapes from a charge of treason, make on of the most stirring and swiftly moving stories of love, intrigue, and adventure that Sabatini has ever written.
The Trampling of the Lilies 1906: It was spring at Bellecour - the spring of 1789, a short three months before the fall of the Bastille came to give the nobles pause, and make them realise that these new philosophies, which so long they have derided, were by no means the idle vapours they had deemed them.
Love-At-Arms 1907: Count Francesco battles the forces of the Duke for the attentions of the Prince's niece in this rousing novel that reminds us of the Romance in Adventure. Sabatini's "Love-at-Arms" is an exuberant romp through love and war, heroism and treachery in late 15th-Century Italy.
The Shame of Motley 1908: For three days I had been cooling my heels about the Vatican, vexed by suspense. It fretted me that I should have been so lightly dealt with after I had discharged the mission that had brought me all the way from Pesaro, and I wondered how long it might be ere his Most Illustrious Excellency the Cardinal of Valencia might see fit to offer me the honourable employment with which Madonna Lucrezia had promised me that he would reward the service I had rendered the House of Borgia by my journey.
St. Martin's Summer 1909: The life of an heiress is in jeopardy and her only hope is to place her trust in the wiles of a middle-aged swordsman with no use for "women's troubles." As the plots of the conspirators converge it will take all the wiles and accumulated wisdom of Martin Marie Rigobert de Garnache uncover their identity, to save Valerie de La Vauvraye and keep his promise to his Queen.
Mistress Wilding also titled Anthony Wilding 1910
The Lion's Skin 1911: Since childhood and his mother's cruel death, young Caryll had been bred in France by his guardians for one purpose—to wreak their vengeance on the father who had never known him. But Caryll did not complete his mission. Instead, he sailed for England and plunged into a maelsrom of dissension and revolt that teemed with danger for him—and for beautiful Mistress Winthrop who loved him. But, in the end the hunter failed, and in this case, the lion was generous.
The Strolling Saint 1913: The Confessions of the High & Mighty Agostino D'Anguissola Tyrant of Mondolfo & Lord of Carmina, in the State of Piacenza.
The Gates of Doom 1914 (Limited preview from Google)
The Sea Hawk 1915: The story is set over the years 1588-1593, and concerns a retired Cornish sea-faring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous half-brother. After being forced to serve as a slave on a Spanish galley, Sir Oliver is liberated by Barbary pirates. He joins the pirates, gaining the name "Sakr-el-Bahr", the hawk of the sea, and swears vengeance against his brother.
The Snare 1917: Wellington was out to save Portugal, but there were traitors in high places secretly opposing his methods and playing the spy for the enemy. All depended on secrecy and unity of action. Suddenly the drunken blunder of a young English officer gives the plotters their chance to upset the delicate balance. Their influence causes the Portugese Council of Regency to demand that the culprit be made a scapegoat. He is at large, and it falls to his brother-in-law, Sir Terrence O'Moy, British adjutant-general at Lisbon, to promise that he shall be shot when taken. The disentangling of the coil of circumstances developing from this situation occupies the remainder of this romantic narrative.
Scaramouche 1921
Captain Blood: His Odyssey 1922: In his great galley, the Arabella, Peter Blood, driven by treachery from his quiet home, sailed the romantic waters of the Caribbean Sea, Admiral of a fleet of pirate ships. Superb, even beyond Morgan, he is a figure of romance such as you have not imaged even in the most colorful of your dreams.
The Chronicles of Captain Blood: Further adventures of Captain Blood
Fortune's Fool 1923: Late of Cromwell's army, Col. Holles finds it impossible to obtain a commission with the royalists. At his wit's end for money, daily he becomes more impatient and embittered, until, careless of his reputation, he decides to fling away honor as well, and undertakes for the Duke of Buckingham the abduction of a popular actress. Of what happens thereafter, of a thrilling duel and strange adventures, of Col. Holles's fight for redemption, Sabatini tells in his finest style. (Limited preview from Google)
The Carolinian 1924: The book is set at the start of the revolutionary war as a young wealthy planter in Charleston, South Carolina realizes that morality demands that he align himself with the Patriot cause. However by doing so, he will risk everything he holds dear-- especially the affections of his fiercly royalist fiance and prospective father-in-law. Adventure and Tempestuous romance ensues...
Bellarion the Fortunate 1926: The romance of Italy in the fifteenth century. Bellarion was, when we first meet him, en route for the priesthood and the cloistered life, but being diverted to the service of the Princess Valeria, he served her faithfully for five years, developing in that time from an artless convent-bred youth to a soldier of great strength and cunning, adoptive son of Lord Facino and the feared and hated object of all his enemies. Now all this time Bellarion served his lady's cause and served it well, tho she gave him only suspicion and contempt for the seeming deviousness of his ways. With all won, all seemed lost. Then the princess looked into her heart and found there more than gratitude.
The Hounds of God 1928: Disillusioned with the intrigue leading up to the crowning of Queen Elizabeth I, Roger Trevanion, Earl of Garth hides himself in his books and leaves his daughter, Margaret to gain a sense of independence and self-reliance rare in a woman of that era. After she is kidnapped by Don Pedro de Mendoza y Luna, a shipwrecked Spanish captain she had befriended, her would-be fiance Sir Gervase Crosby must fight his way through the English and Spanish Courts and the Inquisition to rescue her before her strength of spirit can run out.
The Romantic Prince 1929: 'Anthony of Egmont contemplated the world with disapproval. He had reached the conclusion that it was no place for a gentleman.' Thus begins Sabatini's masterly novel centred on the fifteenth century Burgundian court. Here, Anthony of Egmont's world is one of ideals, changing fortunes and misplaced loyalties.
The King's Minion also titled The Minion 1930: King James I, narrowly escaping assassination in the infamous Gunpowder Plot, has reason to suspect all around him. But surely he can trust members of his Privvy Council? - and especially Robert Carr of Ferniehurst, Earl of Somerset and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter? The Minion traces Carr's meteoric rise and fall at the hands of the wary king whilst capturing all the thrill and vitality of seventeenth century England.
Scaramouche the Kingmaker 1931
The Black Swan 1932: When Priscilla Harradine travels back to England accompanied by the rather dull Major Sands, she has no cause to expect her journey will be anything other than uneventful. But also on board the Centaur is Charles de Bernis - a mysterious and intriguing buccaneer. Just as their friendship is beginning to blossom, a dark figure from de Bernis' past emerges to propel them into a thrilling and perilous adventure, taking them right to the heart of pirate life.
The Stalking Horse 1933: William of Orange may have triumphantly taken up the throne of England amid much jubilation and celebration, but there are still those who would rather he were not there at all. In this thrilling novel, Sabatini portrays all the political intrigue of seventeenth century London as these Jacobite extremists undertake their Assasination Plot, whilst presenting us with a worthy hero in Colonel Dudley Watson.
Venetian Masque 1934: Monsieur le Vicomte is a remarkable man - not least because, for all concerned, he had been guillotined along with numerous French aristocrats. Yet by some twist of fate he managed to escape and seek refuge in Turin, out of the jurisdiction of the French authorities. But by an even more perverse twist of fate, he is apprehended, leaving him once and for all in the hands of the gods. In this dramatic adventure, Sabatini portrays all the colour and passion of Revolutionary France.
Chivalry 1935: At the age of twenty-eight, Ser Colombino had become one of the great mercenary captains of the day, his fame spreading across the length and breadth of Italy. But, soldier of fortune though he was, living on the bloody threshold of the Renaissance, Colombino patterned his life on the Age of Chivalry... It was for this reason perhaps that he led his Company of the Dove against Verona in the service of that beautiful and dangerous woman, the Countess Eufemia of Rovieto. Taking up arms for Lord Onorato and his daughter, the fair Samaritana, Colombino smashed the armies of Venice and fell in love with Samaritana, who was already secretly betrothed.
The Lost King 1937: The mystery of the lost Dauphin of France, Louis XVII, is the subject of this romance. The author assumes that Louis escaped from prison and lived to maturity in Switzerland. He made one abortive attempt to regain the throne, but on the news of Napoleon's escape from Elba, he returned to Switzerland, and resigned all thoughts of reigning over France.
The Sword of Islam 1939: European waters are rife with mighty naval battles - not least the renowned Battle of Amalfi of 1527. Yet for Andrea Doria, the Admiral of the King of France, he soon learns that the battles he confronts are not confined to sea alone. The House of Dorian is plagued with conflict, both within and without, and Andrea finds that he has very real enemies in his midst.
The Marquis of Carabas also titled Master-At-Arms 1940: London is rife with impoverished French nobility who have escaped the horror of the French revolution and journeyed to England to enlist the help of their fellow Catholics. Quentin de Morlaix, already sympathetic to these disenfranchised French aristocrats, finds that he too has his own personal reasons to pray for an end to the Revolution. He sets off for France, and enters a life of confusion, mystery and suspense - and bloody execution.
Columbus 1941: Set at the time of the discovery of the New World, this is the remarkable story of Columbus' affair with a mysterious Spanish lady - Beatriz Enriquez. Sabatini beautifully traces the course of their romance and the child that she bore him whilst also capturing all the passion of Columbus other struggle - against none other than the King and Queen of Spain.
King In Prussia, also titled The Birth of Mischief 1944: Alverley stands quietly observing a little scene in a petty German court. He is in the Porcelain Gallery with the local royal family. There are many of these tiny kingdoms —full of intrigue and cruelty, music, heavy food, spartan virtues (and evils). The Crown Prince Fritz is completing the playing of his own composition. The curtain is already going up on a sinister prelude to the march of Prussian power.
The Gamester 1949: John Law had a remarkable career ahead of him. Already a successful banker, he was an outstanding figure set to go far. Yet his Scottish homeland was fraught with potential pitfalls and when he killed 'Beau Wilson' in a dual, it seemed that the gods had finally conspired against him and his career was to be cut short in its prime. However, dissatisfied with his fate, Law contrived to escape from Newgate and avoid his death sentence; instead fleeing to France where he lived a life of adventure and excitement, and turned his banking skills to the gambling tables...
Casanova's Alibi and Other Stories (a PGA compilation)
The Plague of Ghosts and Other Stories (a Project Gutenberg Australia compilation)
The Spiritualist: A Story of the Occult.
