Captain Blood is one of the great pirate stories. First published in 1922, Rafael Sabatini's novel has never been out of print. It was the basis for the hit Warner Bros. movie Captain Blood (1935), starring Errol Flynn. Although Blood is a fictional character, much of the historical background of the novel is based on fact. Blood is loosely based on Henry Pitman, a surgeon who tended the wounded Monmouth rebels and was sentenced to penal transportation to Barbados where he escaped and was captur