Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950) was an extraordinary man, born April 29, 1875 in Jesi, Italy, of an English mother and an Italian father. There is uncertainty as to whether his parents were actually married, and suggestions of illegitemacy amongst his heroes do occasionally appear in his books - Scaramouche himself is one such example. Both parents were excellent opera singers, and his mother an accomplished pianist. They travelled the world and Sabatini was exposed to many languages throughout his childhood, the learning of which was something he was able to embrace comfortably. Sabatini became quite fluent in English and Italian from exposure to his parents, and later by attending Catholic school in Portugal added a third language. As a young student in Switzerland, German and French soon followed. But he wrote primarily in English - "All the best stories are in English" he stated.

During his work as a Brazilian translator in Liverpool, England, he began to write historical romances, his first appearing in 1901 ('The Lovers of Yvonne') and his second in 1905, also the year he married Ruth Dixon. In 1909 they had a child, Rafael-Angelo, whom the family knew as "Binkie" for some undisclosed reason.

These early years of struggle changed in 1910 as Sabatini began to produce a book each year on average. Mostly romances, he also engaged in some excellent factual work, and issued books on "Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition" and "The Life of Cesare Borgia". This latter subject - or at least the "Cinquecento Italiano" - would appear in many books, Sabatini having been born near the Borgia's lands and possibly seeing a kindred illegitimate spirit in Cesare.

In 1927, Sabatini's wife and son were involved in a car smash, it was Sabatini himself who found them laying by the side of the road whilst driving to their rented home near Tintern Abbey in Herefordshire. Although Ruth recovered, their beloved son was mortally injured and expired soon after reaching Brockweir House. The marriage did not survive the dreadful blow, and the couple finally divorced in 1931.

Sabatini continued to produce his annual book, writing excellent material, though the world-wide depression prevented sales reaching the same levels as the offerings of "Scaramouche" (1921), "Captain Blood" (1922) and "The Hounds of God" (1928). He was heavily penalised financially when he lost a tiresome argument in court with the American Inland Revenue regarding taxation of the American movie rights to 5 of his books in 1938, a situation in which P.G. Wodehouse would also later find himself, the Sabatini case providing even today American Law students with interesting precedent. It seems Sabatini, on receipt of the tax demand, employed an “expert” who faked a letter which stated that following his intervention, the demand was not required, pocketed the fee and disappeared, leaving Sabatini to pick up the pieces. The 1932 book "The Black Swan" was later filmed (in 1942) with Maureen O'Hara and Tyrone Power and won an Oscar for its technicolor cinematography (by Leon Shamroy).

Directed by Michael Curtiz, it was the 1935 production of Captain Blood which provided a young Errol Flynn with his first ever Hollywood starring role, alongside the gorgeous Olivia de Havilland as Arabella Bishop and Basil Rathbone as the devilish Levasseur, in one of Hollywood's more faithful depictions of a Sabatini story - only let down by a cringe-inducing final scene. In that same year, aged 60, Sabatini married again, his former sister-in-law, Christine Dixon who had been married to Ruth's brother, herself a sculptor of considerable talent. Christine already had a son, Lancelot Steele Dixon, known as "Lanty". At the outbreak of the second world war, the popular Lanty joined the RAF. On the day he received his pilot's wings, he flew his Spitfire over the Sabatini's house, the Clock Mill at Hereford. Rafael and Lanty’s mother watched from the garden as he flew around them, their pride suddenly turning to horror as the plane crashed in flames in the field beside the house. Christine would have nightmares for years, the image of her son burning to death in front of her something no woman should have to endure.

Sabatini wrote less after that, though what was produced was still excellent. But his health was failing and he had stomach cancer. Each year, the family spent time at Adelboden in Switzerland, skiing being - with fishing - one of Sabatini's most passionate pastimes. On the 1950 visit, made at his own insistence and against medical advice, he never left his room and died February 13th, being buried in the small cemetery in the town.