Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte books
The Spanish writer Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte is also a journalist and member of the Royal Spanish Academy. As a journalist, he has worked as a war correspondent, editor, reporter, screenwriter, and television presenter. He worked at Spanish National Radio and Television (RTVE) from 1985 to 1994. Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte's literary genres include novels, historical novels, and detective fiction.
Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte has published, in addition to his novels and history books, a children's book, some selections of press articles, as well as other small or short books. Of all the novels by this writer, ten belong to two of his most outstanding works, the saga of the adventures of Captain Alatriste and FalcĂł's trilogy.
The books corresponding to these two sagas can be read independently, only that the author wrote them chronologically. Therefore, it is advisable to follow the same order given by Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte to the books, according to the dates of his publications, in order to avoid possible spoilers or revelations about the previous novels.
Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte made in 2011 for Antena 3, the film adaptation and script of the television series La Reina del Sur. A series based on the novel of the same name that this author wrote in 2002. Next, we talk about the books of this writer divided between those published in the last century and those of the present. In addition to the two sagas separately, as a way to help when choosing what to read by Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte books.
Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte books published in the XNUMXth century
Below is a brief synopsis of the books written by Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte in the last XNUMXth century. These are presented in chronological order according to the year of publication:
The Hussar, published in 1986 : A book set during the War of Independence (1808). Its protagonist is a novice French hussar, who sees in this war the opportunity to achieve the military glory he has always dreamed of. But upon facing harsh reality, he realizes that this glory was only a figment of his imagination.
In 1988, he published *The Fencing Master *: A novel set during the reign of Isabella II in Spain (1868), which tells the story of a fencing master who teaches fencing to nobles in Madrid. The master's life is turned upside down when a lady wishes to take fencing lessons with him. From that point on, a series of events unfolds. This book was included among the one hundred best novels of the 20th century written in Spanish, a list that also includes * Lazarillo de Tormes *.
The Flanders Panel (1990) : This is the author's first non-historical novel. Its narrative is in keeping with the era in which it was written, the late 1980s. The central plot revolves around a young art restorer and a 15th-century painting that appears to contain a hidden message: a chess game, a theme also related to the summary of the chess novel.
The Club Dumas, published in 1993 : The protagonist of this story is a collector of rare antique books, who receives a commission for one by Alexandre Dumas and another that is a treatise on medieval demons. These books lead the collector to question whether art imitates reality or vice versa. We invite you to read about the writer Dumas in the article: Biography of Alexandre Dumas : His Most Important Works. A writer credited with introducing Romanticism to French theater.
The Shadow of the Eagle (1993) : This book tells a brief, bittersweet, and thrilling story about a Spanish troop fighting for France in Russia during Napoleon's time. The book is filled with dark humor that will have you laughing out loud.
Territorio Comanche, published in 1994 : This novel is classified as autofiction, as it features a war correspondent who recounts episodes from his experiences in the Middle East, Latin America, Yugoslavia, and Africa.
A Matter of Honor from 1994 : It is a short work of fiction starring a young prostitute and a truck driver, who have local bosses and hitmen as enemies.
Short Works from 1995 : This book compiles three of the author's stories mentioned above: The Hussar, The Shadow of the Eagle, and A Matter of Honor. It also includes a story entitled The Passenger of the San Carlos.
The Skin of the Drum of 1995 : This book develops the story about the investigation of a church that kills to defend itself, it is also an exploration of Seville after 1992.
Letter of Marque of 1998 : This book is a compilation of the author's writings as a reporter in the supplement called El Semanal.
The Saga of Captain Alatriste
The saga of Captain Alatriste is the first of seven novels by the writer Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte that make up a series. The first novel published in 1996, creates this fictional character nicknamed Captain Alatriste who is a war veteran. Each novel in this saga narrates the adventure of this character around a mission that he must fulfill, also emphasizing some event of the time.
Captain Alatriste's first mission takes place against the background of the Tres Felipes wars. Showing the city of Madrid from the time of 1623 where a fictitious and adventure plot is interwoven. Each book in this saga can be purchased and read separately, only it is advisable to read it in the chronological order given by the author, according to its publication date.
All Alatriste
But in addition, since 2016 a compilation of all these seven novels was published in a single volume of 1800 pages, called Todo Alatriste. This volume was published in two versions, one with a black cover as a special edition and another with the characteristic tone of this series, in a cream-colored cover. Here are the other six novels that make up this saga of Captain Alatriste:
Purity of Blood (1997): The second novel featuring the character Captain Alatriste, dealing with the themes of religion, the Inquisition, and its influence on Spain at the time.
The Sun of Breda (1998): Alatriste and his companion Íñigo carry out a mission in the Flanders wars.
The King's Gold (2000): Alatriste returns from the Flanders Wars by sea to Seville. In this city, he undertakes a mission involving a ship from the Americas laden with gold. This novel highlights the importance of trade with the Indies for Spain at the time, a theme also present in A History of Spain.
The Knight in the Yellow Doublet (2003): Alatriste, now in Madrid, finds himself in a conspiracy against the king's life and in the world of theater.
Corsairs of the Levant (2006): Alatriste is found throughout the Mediterranean, from Algeria to Turkey. The novel presents a vision of the Mediterranean as a zone of common violence among the countries that surround it.
The Bridge of Assassins (2011): Currently the latest installment in the Captain Alatriste series. The story unfolds in Italy, featuring characters like Diego and Íñigo as adults, who become embroiled in a conspiracy to assassinate the Doge of Venice.
Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte books published in the XNUMXst century
Below is a brief synopsis of the books written by Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte in this century. Which are presented in chronological order according to the year of publication:
The Nautical Chart (2000): A plot full of enigma, adventure, danger, and the influence of the past on the present. Developed during the time of its writing, it revolves around the search for treasure on an 18th-century shipwreck. In this book, the author captures his own maritime experiences and those of his family.
With the intent to offend (2001): A text in which the author compiles, for the second time, a selection of his articles from the Weekly. This second installment comprises the writings from between 1998 and 2001.
Cape Trafalgar (2004): A text commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The author narrates a fictionalized version of this military event, an event also mentioned in [reference missing].
You Won't Take Me Alive (2005): Third publication of selected articles that the author wrote for XL Semanal between 2002 and 2005.
The Painter of Battles (2006): For the author, this is his best novel. It tells the story of a struggle between a retired photojournalist and the subject of one of his most popular and award-winning photographs. The subject of the photograph is a Croatian man who is searching for the retired photographer, now a painter, to kill him.
A Day of Wrath (2007): This is a historical novel in which the author places real historical figures in the locations they occupied during the popular uprising in Madrid on May 2, 1808, against Napoleon's army. It was published prior to the bicentennial of this event.
Blue Eyes (2009)
This book is a short story that was first published as a literary article by the author for El PaĂs Semanal in 2000. Nine years later it was edited and published as an individual book with illustrated content. Set in the time of 1520, with Hernán Cortez trying to leave Tenochtitlán, Mexico. The protagonist is a Spanish soldier who narrates his experiences and why he finds himself in the middle of that situation. One of these reasons is to await the birth of his son with an Aztec woman and the hope that he will be born with his father's blue eyes.
If you enjoy short stories, we invite you to discover Edgar Allan Poe, a renowned writer in the literary world and one of the masters of the short story. Read the article: The Best of Edgar Allan Poe: Books and His Biography.
When We Were Honest Mercenaries (2009): Fourth publication of selected articles that the author wrote for XL Semanal.
The Siege (2010): This is Arturo Pérez-Reverte's longest novel. It contains three distinct storylines, like a trilogy, all within a single volume. These three narratives merge to form a historical portrait of Cádiz in 1811, under siege by the French.
The Little Hoplite (2010): This is a children's book with many illustrations that belongs to a collectible series called My First Book. This collection includes books by various authors, such as Javier MarĂas, Mario Vargas Llosa, Almudena Grandes, Eduardo Mendoza, and Enrique Vila-Matas.
Ships are lost on land (2011): These are short stories that deal with matters relating to the sea, boats and sailors.
The Old Guard Tango (2012)
A book that contains a love story between a couple who meet in three different times, the 20's, the 30's and the 60's of the last century. He is a tango dancer, scammer and playboy, she is a wealthy and married Spanish woman.
The Patient Sniper (2013): A book about the search for a former urban graffiti artist by an explorer named Lex Varela, who looks for him in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
Dogs and sons of bitches (2014): A selection of press articles written by the author on the subject of dogs and the dog-like treatment of people.
Good Men (2015): A book where two scholars of the Castilian language of the 18th century travel to Paris to obtain copies of a new type of fashionable text, The Encyclopedia, an interesting fact in literary history that is also reflected in The Japanese Lover.
The Spanish Civil War Told to Young People (2015): The title of this book is very explicit. The author aims to present the most relevant events of the Civil War in short stories with illustrations by Fernando Vicente, making them easier and more accessible to young people.
JodĂa PavĂa (2016): A fun and irreverent way of narrating the battle of Pavia.
Urban Warriors (2016): A text about graffiti and graffiti artists, the photographs are by Jeosm and the texts are by Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte.
Tough Dogs Don't Dance (2018): This book is a kind of fable where the characters are dogs. It's a charming, hopeful, yet cruel and moving story.
The Hair (2018): Contains twelve stories by different authors but with a common theme: Spain in the American Revolutionary War.
A History of Spain (2019)
Selection of almost one hundred articles that were published between 2013 and 2017 in XL Semanal on the history of Spain. The articles are numbered from 1 to 91, and range from the first Spanish civilizations to the Transition.
Sidi (2019): Contrary to what the author learned in his classrooms during the 60s in Francoist and patriotic Spain, PĂ©rez Reverte begins with the story of Rodrigo DĂaz de Vivar's life, specifically the moment when he is exiled from the territories of Alfonso VI of Castile after being coerced into publicly swearing that he had no involvement in his brother's death.
The Cyclops' Cave (2020): This publication is only available as an ebook, as it was edited during the COVID-19 pandemic. It contains a selection of over six thousand tweets from the author's account, @perezreverte. All of them discuss literature in response to his thousands of followers.
Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte books and The Queen of the South (2002)
La Reina del Sur is one of Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte's main books, first of all because it is the one that the writer usually recommends to his readers. And another for being one of the most popular and well-known worldwide. In fact, it can be found in versions of several languages.
Also in this book you can find one of the best female characters in the books of this century. This female character is Teresa Mendoza, the wife of a drug trafficker from Sinaloa, Mexico. Which once in danger has to flee and transform into a brave and daring woman. The plot takes place between Mexico and Spain. This book was adapted by the same author for television in 2011.
The Trilogy of Arturo PĂ©rez Reverte books: FalcĂł
FalcĂł is the first book in the saga of this espionage novel published in 2016. Its main character is Lorenzo FalcĂł, who moves between the world of espionage and intelligence services.
Falcón in this first installment is involved in infiltrating Republican territory in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, in a strategy to free José Antonio Primo de Rivera from the Alicante jail. The novel Falcó was so well received by readers that the fame of his character is manifested in the following two published novels:
- Eve (2017)
- And Sabotage (2018)
