Perez Reverte started out as a journalist, and worked as a war correspondent in various African countries for the daily Pueblo.

Later he became a familiar face in Spanish households as a war correspondent for Spanish national television. He still contributes articles to the Spanish media, but no longer works as a reporter, having become a full-time novelist. Since 1991 he writes every week a column in the magazine called El Semanal.

His first novel, El Husar (1986) was followed by El Maestro de Esgrima (The Fencing Master, 1988) , but true success came with his third novel, La Tabla de Flandes (The Flanders Panel, 1990).

His most acclaimed work, El Club Dumas, appeared in 1993. His favorite theme is mysteries surrounding ancient documents.

Perez Reverte is one of Spain's most translated contemporary writers, with most of his major novels available in English. Some have also been adapted for the screen, but the author is the first to recognize that his novels don't translate well into movies. The Club Dumas was adapted as The Ninth Gate, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Johnny Depp, and was released in 1999 to mixed reviews.

Between 1996 and 1999 Perez Reverte produced a series of light pop books, based on a swashbuckling character named "Capitán Alatriste".

In 2000, he returned to more serious fiction with La Carta Esférica, inspired by the author's life-long fascination with the sea and sailing. The main character is a sailor who is banned from working on a boat for two years, and embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of an 18th-century shipwreck. Critics are nominating this as his most important work together with The Club Dumas.

His last books have been Con Animo De Ofender (With the Desire to Offend, 2002) and La Reina del Sur (The Queen of the South, 2002).

The book was the result of the author's fascination with the sea. He was born in November 24, 1951 in the town of Cartagena, a major navy port, and as a youth Perez Reverte was a scuba diving enthusiast and worked on an oil tanker. A resident of Madrid, he spends as much time as he can on the sailboat he bought in 1993.

Selected works:

• El Husar (1986)
  
• El Maestro de Esgrima   (The Fencing Master, 1988)
  
• La Tabla de Flandes   (The Flanders Panel, 1990)
  
• El Club Dumas   (The Club Dumas, 1993)
  
• Territorio comanche
  
• Cachito: un Asunto de Honor (1995)
  
• La Piel del Tambor   (The Seville Communion, 1995)
  
• El Capitán Alatriste (1996)
  
• Limpieza de sangre (1997)
  
• El Sol de Breda (1998)
  
• Patente de Corso (1998)
  
• La Sombra Del Aguila (1998)
  
• La Carta Esférica   (The Nautical Chart, 2000)
  
• El Oro del Rey (2001)
  
• Obra Breve (2001)
  
• Con Animo De Ofender   (With the Desire to Offend, 2002)
  
• La Reina del Sur   (The Queen of the South, 2002)