The battle of Lepanto was a bloody affair. More than 30,000 Turks and 29,000 Christians were killed or injured. Among the latter was Miguel de Cervantes, the future author of Don Quixote. Cervantes had joined the Spanish navy marines as a soldier the previous year and despite suffering from fever, he insisted upon participating in the battle. He received two gunshot wounds in the chest and a third one that rendered his left arm useless. After six months of recuperation in a hospital in Malta, he returned to his career in the navy. But he had no luck. In October 1575 he was captured by Muslim pirates and taken to Algiers where he spent the next five years in captivity. He tried to escape four times and was finally ransomed by his family. The Captive's tale in Don Quixote is inspired by these bitter experiences.