Pirates have nothing on Princes! The Prince of Foxes that is.

 May 18 was the birthday of adventure novel writer Samuel Shellabarger. And shame on us! We forgot to mention it, however, as we’re talking this week about a great writing, specifically great plots and great characters, we had to mention Shellabarger.  He’s on our list of greats right up there with Rafael Sabatini, and Alexandre Dumas.

If you’re not familiar with Sam’s work, pick up a copy of anything he’s written, really, ANYTHING. But we highly recommend the following: The Prince of Foxes. (Ignore the lurid cover! The text is what matters.)

Very popular in it’s day. So much so Orson Welles deigned to be Cesare Borgia in the pretty awesome
1949 movie version. The movie is rarely shown, and is shot in black and white (despite the horrible color cover shown below), but the acting is top notch (Tyrone Power!), the direction brilliant (Henry King!) and it’s shot in Italy!

Look for it on AMC or TMC, better yet buy it.

At some point someone in Hollywood will remake it, but the Welles version (check it out on YouTube) stands the test of time!