Written by: Rafael Sabatini
Submitted By: Alex Woodrow
I can't believe no one's recommended Rafael Sabatini yet! He's not that well known any more but he is absolutely one of the all-time great writers of historical adventure stories. The Sea Hawk and Captain Blood are better known but Sword of Islam is real corker. It tells the (true) story of the sea condotierres who fought the wars between France and Spain on the Mediterranean in the early C16th whilst also being harrassed by the Algerian corsairs under Dragut Reis, the Drawn Sword of Islam. Machievellian intrigue, romance, blood-fueds, savage battles - it's all here. Fantastic stuff!
