Kidnapped: Original and Unabridged - Paperback

by Robert Louis Stevenson (Author)

This is the Original and unabridged text of Kidnapped, a historical fiction adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

David Balfour is young and naive but resourceful; his parents have recently died, and he is out to make his way in the world. He is sent on an erand to visit his uncle, Ebenezer Balfour

He soon discovers evidence that his father may have been older than his uncle, thus making himself the rightful heir to the estate. David confronts his uncle, who promises to tell David the whole story of his father the next morning. But before that can happen David and his uncle visit a ship in harbour on business, where his uncle arranges that he is kidnapped to be sold in the New World.

Written as a "boys' novel" it has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis Borges, and Seamus Heaney.

As historical fiction, it is set around 18th-century Scottish events, notably the "Appin Murder," which occurred near Ballachulish in 1752 in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising. Many of the characters, such as Alan Breck Stewart, were real people. The political situation of the time is portrayed from different viewpoints, and the Scottish Highlanders are treated sympathetically.

Author Biography

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850 - 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 26 most translated authors in the world. His works have been admired by many other writers. G. K. Chesterton, said of him that he "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins."