Product Description

Using the writings of author Leslie Charteris and examining the many incarnations of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint," in other media, this is a detailed history of the now legendary character. Included are plot synopses of the radio and television programmes and descriptions of the movies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #631830 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 431 pages

Customer Reviews

This Edgar Award winner is a modern masterpiece
Leslie Charteris,creator of THE SAINT, wrote "I could not have asked for a more profound and sympathetic appraisal of everything I tried to do with The Saint." Cleverly written, well researched, and featuring many exlusive photos and illustrations, THE SAINT: A COMPLETE HISTORY is an absolute must for anyone who has an interest in (a) THE SAINT (b) popular culture, (c) marketing a franchise, or (d) mystery fiction in general

Good, but it could have gone further
When writing about a phenomenon like the Saint saga, which shows every sign of continuing indefinitely, it must be difficult to know when to stop. This book mentions "the forthcoming film" frequently, but was published before it was made; frustrating, because I would have loved to have read the author's reaction to this thing which failed to grasp any aspect of the Saint's personality or motivation whatsoever. You do learn from the book that the Saint has been adapted contrary to his creator's intentions many times before.

It's not all bad, though, and this book will be indispensible to any Saint fan, as it seems to cover just about everything (either I'm not a big enough fan to have spotted any omissions, or there were none). It's just a pity the 1997 film didn't make it - it's also a pity that it didn't live up to the high expectations expressed in this book. Personally, I would have preferred the film not to be mentioned at all.

All right, I promise to stop going on about the darn film. I'll just finish by mentioning that the episode synopses at the back of the book (almost half of it, in fact) took up too much space for someone like me who doesn't have the complete collection and doesn't need an index; paradoxically, they were also too short to make entertaining reading in the absence of such a collection.

But I still enjoyed the book, honest. :)

The Ultimate Saint Book!!
This Edgar Award winner is exactly what the title states: a complete history of Leslie Charteris' character, THE SAINT as portrayed in all media. This would make a perfect text book for a pop culture class, plus it is a VERY entertaining read! Barer, a true fan of the Saint, covers EVERYTHING you can imagine about Simon Templar. The hardback edition came out just prior to Charteris' death, and the Saint's creator praised it highly. This more affordable paper version has the original content. It has not been updated or revised to include info on the Val Kilmer film. When it says 1928-1992, it means it.