Capitán Alatriste

A reader's companion to the saga

Seven novels. One soldier. A century of ink, steel, and candlelight.

Pérez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste and the Spain that made him — the books, the characters, the Golden Age.

The Novels

Follow Diego Alatriste in reading order →
Book 1 cover — Captain Alatriste, Spanish Alfaguara editionBook ICaptain Alatriste Book 2 cover — Purity of Blood, Spanish Alfaguara editionBook IIPurity of Blood Book 3 cover — The Sun over Breda, Spanish Alfaguara editionBook IIIThe Sun over Breda Book 4 cover — The King's Gold, Spanish Alfaguara editionBook IVThe King's Gold Book 5 cover — The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet, Spanish Alfaguara editionBook VThe Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet Book 6 cover — Pirates of the Levant, Spanish Alfaguara editionBook VIPirates of the Levant Book 7 cover — El Puente de los Asesinos, Spanish editionBook VIIThe Bridge of the Assassins

Characters

The company of the tavern, the court, and the shadows
Character portrait — a weathered Golden Age swordsman, chiaroscuro lightingDiego AlatristeCaptain Character portrait — a young man, the narrator, period dressÍñigo BalboaNarrator Character portrait — a bespectacled Golden Age poetQuevedoPoet Character portrait — a fair, dangerous noblewoman of the courtAngélica de AlquézarTemptation Character portrait — a menacing man in black, the antagonistGualterio MalatestaEnemy

The Golden Age

A Velázquez painting — The Surrender of Breda (Las Lanzas), full-bleed detail Diego Velázquez, The Surrender of Breda (1634–35) · Museo del Prado

The century that painted itself in shadow

The Spain of Alatriste is an empire at its most magnificent and most exhausted — court and gutter, poetry and plague, all under the same low golden light.

  1. 01Taverns, gambling, and the coin of Madrid
  2. 02The art of the sword: rapier & dagger
  3. 03The tercios, Breda, and the war in Flanders
  4. 04Quevedo, Lope, and the poets of the age
Explore the Golden Age →

In Good Company

The sites we keep company with

The Film

Alatriste (2006) · Viggo Mortensen
Illustration of a candlelit tavern in Golden Age Spain
Shadow and Steel: The Visual and Moral Logic of Alatriste (2006)
Illustration of two swordsmen facing off at dawn in a misty street
Honour, Decline, and the Weight of a Promise
Illustration of pikemen from the tercios standing under a grey sky
Viggo Mortensen: Actor, Artist, and Reluctant Star
Author portrait — Arturo Pérez-Reverte, seated, in low warm light

The Author

The war reporter who gave the Spanish Golden Age its most disenchanted soldier.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte — read his story →

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