Cover of The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes

The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes

The word "swashbuckler" conjures up an indelible image: a hero who's a bit of a rogue but has his own code of honor, an adventurer with laughter on his lips and a flashing sword in his hand. This larger-than-life figure is regularly declared passe, but the swashbuckler is too appealing to ever really die. Who wouldn't want to face deadly danger with confidence and elan? Who can deny the thrill of clashing blades, hairbreadth escapes, and daring rescues, of facing vile treachery with dauntless courage and passionate devotion?

Read more

The swashbuckler tradition was born out of legends like those of the Knights of the Round Table and of Robin Hood, revived in the early 19th century by Romantic movement authors such as Sir Walter Scott. The genre caught hold with the publication of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeersin 1844, and for the next century it was arguably the world's leading form of adventure fiction.

Featuring selections by twenty hugely popular writers from the last century including Rafael Sabatini; Johnston Mcculley (creator of the Zorro character); Alexandre Dumas: Arthur Conan Doyle; and Pierce Egan (author of Robin Hood), this anthology is dedicated to the swashbuckler's roots: historical adventures by the masters of the genre. Most of these stories have been out of print for decades; some have never before been collected in book form. All are top-notch entertainment.

So, ready for some action?

En garde!

Audience
adult
Length
epic · 604 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Hudson Book of Fiction: 30 Stories Worth Reading Shares short stories, anthology, classics
  2. Free onlineFree
    The Rover Shares historical fiction, classics
  3. Terry Jones' Fairy Tales Shares short stories
  4. The Light Princess and other stories to die for Shares short stories, anthology, classics

“People who read The Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure: Classic Tales of Dashing Heroes, Dastardly Villains, and Daring Escapes tend to reach for these next.”

  1. West from Singapore
  2. Captain From Castile
  3. Darkness Descending
  4. The French Executioner

“If you want more of the same (historical fiction), start with these.”

  1. A Fictional History of the United States
  2. The sword of Islam
  3. Free onlineFree Colomba
  4. On Forsyte 'Change

“If it was the anthology that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Portable American Realism Reader
  2. Fiction 100: An Anthology Of Short Stories
  3. Dumped
  4. Love Stories

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Conan's Brethren: The Complete Collection
  2. The Red Sphinx: A Sequel to the Three Musketeers
  3. The Redwall Collection
  4. GURPS Basic Set: Characters