New Recruit: Bloody Captain...

er...make that Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini.

With the new web design, current title, and goal to aim more intensely forcus on the sailing / ocean / ship-and-its-crew theme of the blog, what a better book to start for my Fall Reading Challenge than a piratey one, eh?

Table of Contents:
I. The Messenger
II. Kirke's Dragoons
III. The Lord Chief Justice
IV. Human Merchandise
V. Arabella Bishop
VI. Plans of Escape
VII. Pirates
VIII. Spaniards
IX. The Rebels-Convict
X. Don Diego
XI. Filial Piety
XII. Don Pedro Sangre
XIII. Tortuga
XIV. Levasseur's Heroics
XV. The Ransom
XVI. The Trap
XVII. The Dupes
XVIII. The Milagrosa
XIX. The Meeting
XX. Thief and Pirate
XXI. The Service of King James
XXII. Hostilities
XXIII. Hostages
XXIV. War
XXV. The Service of King Louis
XXVI. M. de Rivarol
XXVII. Cartagena
XXVIII. The Honor of M. de Rivarol
XXIX. The Service of King William
XXX. The Last Fight of the Arabella
XXXI. His Excellency the Governor

Captain Blood is the first in a trilogy written by Sabatini, begun in 1922; it was followed up nearly a decade later by Captain Blood Returns and The Fortunes of Captain Blood in the 1930s. It was also made into a star-making movie in 1935, starring a very (very, very) young Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland.

Captain Blood is the much-loved story of a physician and gentleman turned pirate. Peter Blood, wrongfully accused and sentenced to death, narrowly escapes his fate and finds himself in the company of buccaneers. Embarking on his new life with remarkable skill and bravery, Blood becomes the 'Robin Hood' of the Spanish seas. This is swashbuckling adventure at its best. - From fantasticfiction.co.uk

Personally, I'm psyched about this book. I've got the perfectly sized and weighted W.W. Norton copy - perfect for carrying around, propping in the lap by the fireside, or scanning in a comfy rocker by the picture window. I love the texture and feel of books (So what? I'm nerdy!); I have to have the right feel and look whenever I read a book. I'm pretty satisfied with this one.

Anyways, I can't wait! Snuggling up under the blankets in a flannel nightgown with this one tonight!

A preview(from page92):

With the crashing roar of that second broadside, Colonel Bishop awak from stupefaction to a recollection of where his duty lay. In the town below drums were beating frantically, and a trumpet was bleating, as if ther peril needed further advertising. As commander of the Barbados Militia, the place of Colonel Bishop was the head of his scanty troops, in that fort which the Spanish guns were pounding into rubble.