Hooray! You have added the first book to your bookshelf. Check it out now!
[−]
  • Search Digit-count Valid ISBN Invalid ISBN Valid Barcode Invalid Barcode
Blog this item

Captain Alatriste

By Arturo Perez-Reverte

(14)

| Hardcover | 9780399152757

Like Captain Alatriste?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Sign up for free

Book Description

The first in a magnificent series of historical novels from the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Club Dumas and The Queen of the South.

Captain Alatriste is the story of a fictional seventeenth-century Spanish soldier who, after being wounded in battle during the ThContinue

The first in a magnificent series of historical novels from the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Club Dumas and The Queen of the South.

Captain Alatriste is the story of a fictional seventeenth-century Spanish soldier who, after being wounded in battle during the Thirty Years' War, is forced to retire from the army. Now he lives the comparatively tame-though hardly quiet-life of a swordsman-for-hire in Madrid. Approached with an offer of work, Alatriste is told to go with another hired blade to an unfamiliar part of the city at midnight and wait. They are received by men who explain that they want Alatriste and his companion to ambush two travelers the following evening, stage a robbery, and give the men a fright. "No blood," they are told.

But then a third figure enters the room. He says the job requires some clarification: he increases the pay, and tells them that, instead, they must murder the two travelers. Then he reveals his identity: Emilio Bocanegra. It is a name synonymous with the Spanish Inquisition, the bloodiest name in Europe. This is a man whose requests cannot be denied.

But the following night, with the attack imminent, it becomes clear to Alatriste that these aren't ordinary travelers. And what happens next is only the first in a series of riveting twists and turns, with implications that will reverberate throughout the courts of Europe.

For anyone who loves the work of Arturo Pirez-Reverte-and those who have not yet discovered the delights of this extraordinary writer-Captain Alatriste is one of the most stylish, singular pleasures to come along in years.

Critics

  • Daggers drawn

    Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte 253pp, Weidenfeld, £9.99 Historical adventure novels are moral utopias: dreams of simpler times, when ethical questions were more transparent, and when the proper response to an insult was not to seethe in yo ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • Book review: Arturo Perez-Reverte's *Purity of Blood: The Adventures of Captain Alatriste*

    Purity of Blood: The Adventures of Captain Alatriste Arturo Perez-Reverte Plume Paperback 288 pages November 2006 Captain Alatriste is supposed to be a throwback to the days of the swashbuckling movies of Errol Flynn, but unfortunately he buckles und ... (read full critics)

    curledup published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

1 Review

Login or Sign Up to write a review

  • A Yarn or a yawn?

    Perez-Reverte seems to be a highly popular writer. I had come to this after the excellent The Dumas Club, full of expectations, but really this novel is sporadically good rather than sparkling throughout. Perez-Reverte has given us a charming inroad into a period of history that does deserve much mo ... (continue)

    Perez-Reverte seems to be a highly popular writer. I had come to this after the excellent The Dumas Club, full of expectations, but really this novel is sporadically good rather than sparkling throughout. Perez-Reverte has given us a charming inroad into a period of history that does deserve much more attention but a grandiose, opulent, baroque archway on a major literary highway it is not, in its own right. However, my estimation of the series increased with the second of them (see my comment under Purity of Blood) - one also has the distinct impression that the original is not that well served by the translation, which may be just one more reason to start learning Spanish.

    Is this helpful?

    OwnedLibrarian said on Jun 11, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

Improve data of this book

Prices Change currency & sellers

ISBN Edition List Sale Seller
9780399152757 Hardcover $23.95 -- The Book Depository
Other editions →
Added to Shelf Added to Wish List

Inline Translation Mode

Left click to navigate, right click to translate.

inline translation guide

or close

Inline translation is not ready for this page yet.

Inline translation mode.

Share this page with your friends.

The viewport has not loaded.