Although right wing America and the BNP in England proudly proclaim English to be the best language because of Anglo Saxon blood, is this really the case? 

Arturo Perez Reverte is arguably the best known Spanish writer since Cervantes. Born in Cartagena in 1951 he was first a war reporter covering conflicts such as the Falklands, the war in Mozambique and the Saharan wars.

Later he became a television presenter to Television Espanola (TVE) before becoming a full time novelist.

His most famous works are those of his hero Capitaine Alatriste. A soldier and mercenary: the tale is told of his exploits through the eyes of his thirteen year old page Inigo.

Alatriste is full of honour of the type that a sane Don Quijote, Cervantes hero, would have been proud of, but with so much depth of character and understanding of soldiers in war that they must have been formed by Perez Reverte's many travels and own experiences within war zones.

Only the first of the series has become widely available in an English translation which sadly does not do justice to the original Spanish.

Perez is advancing the Spanish language in a way that must have shocked most of the Academia Espanola when he became a fellow in 2003. Even his punctuation is creative.

The works of Arturo Perez-Reverte will be the definitive Spanish books of the future and a must-read for any... now.