The Sea Hawk

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The Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1915. The story is set in the late 16th century, and concerns a Cornish sea-faring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous brother. After being forced to serve as a slave on a Spanish galley, Sir Oliver is liberated by Barbary pirates. He joins the pirates under the name "Sakr-el-Bahr", the hawk of the sea, and swears vengeance against his brother.

[edit] Film adaptations

The well-known 1940 film The Sea Hawk was originally planned as an adaptation of Sabatini's novel, but an entirely different story was substituted under the same title. An adventurous and dashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe, played by Errol Flynn, feels that he should pirate Spanish ships for the good of England.

The silent film adaptation from 1924, starring Milton Sills, was fairly faithful to Sabatini's plot.