Captain Blood: His Odyssey is an adventure novel by Rafael Sabatini,
originally published in 1922. Sabatini was a proponent of basing
historical fiction as closely as possible on history. Although Blood is
a fictional character, much of the historical background of the novel is
loosely based on fact. "Captain Blood" is a classic for good reason.
Sure, it's a challenge for 21st century readers to wade through the
archaic language of a novel written nearly 100 years ago, but Sabatini's
mastery of characters and story makes the labour more than worth it.
Barely escaping the gallows after his arrest for treating wounded rebels
who were fighting the oppressive King James, Blood flees England and
becomes enslaved on a Barbados plantation of buccaneers.