The Brighter Buccaneer
The Brighter Buccaneer is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in June 1933. This was the eleventh book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". It was the first volume to make use of the short story format; previously Charteris had written either short novels (a.k.a. novellas) or full-length novels featuring the character. This format would dominate the series during the late 1940s and through the 1950s. Charteris originally wrote these stories for "Empire News", a British publication that contracted the  author to provide a weekly series of stories featuring The Saint. These stories were published in "Empire" (many were retitled for the book) between August and November 1932, and therefore predate several of the stories in the preceding book, "Once More the Saint", though little attempt is made at maintaining continuity with the major novellas and novels. Charteris would publish a second collection of "Empire News" shorts as "Boodle" (also published as "The Saint Intervenes"). The story "The Unblemished Bootlegger" introduces a new member of Templar's "family" – Peter Quentin. Stories. The book consisted of 15 stories, the most of  any Saint collection. Some editions list the separate stories as chapters. The stories are each approximately 10 pages in length. (Some editions appear to present these stories in different order). Although most of the stories are stand-alones, a few are connected to each other through plot or characters. Publication history and alternate titles. All of the stories had previously appeared in the newspaper "Empire News" and, other than works written specifically for books, were Charteris' first Saint stories not initially published in "Thriller" magazine, though several would later appear in "Thriller". Except for "The Blind Spot", the omnibus presents  the stories in the order in which they were published in "Empire". Most of the stories appeared in "Empire" under different titles, which are noted where applicable: Television adaptation. Two of the stories in this collection were adapted as episodes of "The Saint". "The Appalling Politician" was retitled "The Imprudent Politician" and was first broadcast during the show's third season on 10 December 1964. "The Export Trade" was retitled "A Double in Diamonds" and was first broadcast during the show's fifth season on 5 May 1967.