Captain Blood

Captain Blood is a historical adventure novel written by Rafael Sabatini and first published in 1922.

Peter Blood is an Irish physician and former soldier who, during the Monmouth Rebellion against King James II, comes to the aid of a wounded rebel. Although he is merely fulfilling his duty as a doctor, he is arrested, imprisoned, and convicted of treason. His death sentence is eventually commuted, and he is transported to Barbados, where he is sold into slavery.

Blood’s medical skills prove invaluable during his captivity and earn him the respect of the island’s leading residents, as well as a certain degree of freedom. Using his intelligence and cunning, he begins planning his escape. When Spanish forces attack Bridgetown, Peter Blood and a group of fellow prisoners seize the opportunity to break free and capture the attackers’ ship.

The former captives sail away aboard the stolen vessel and embark on a new life as buccaneers. With Peter Blood as their commander, they soon become one of the most formidable pirate crews in the Caribbean, and the brilliant physician becomes known as Captain Blood. However, he is forced to leave behind Arabella Bishop, the woman he loves and the niece of his former owner. Their feelings for each other are complicated by Blood’s new life as a wanted pirate and outlaw...

“Peter Blood, bachelor of medicine and several other things besides, smoked a pipe and tended the geraniums boxed on the sill of his window above Water Lane in the town of Bridgewater.”