Edinburgh wouldn't be Edinburgh without Robert Louis Stevenson - Ian Rankin 

Born on 13 November 1850 in a house in Inverleith, Edinburgh, Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was to become one of the most famous and well-loved novelists of his generation.  From the pirate yarn Treasure Island to the ambiguous Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the simple A Child's Garden of Verses, many of his books have become classics.  Kidnapped is a remarkable weave of fact and fiction - you can read more about the real story behind Kidnapped.

He is the master of drama and one of the most generous storytellers ever - Nicola Morgan, author

RLS instead trained as a lawyer in Edinburgh, though his legal career totalled four clients.  He left the profession to pursue his real love: writing. 

His serious rivals are few indeed - Arthur Conan Doyle, author

Stevenson was an intrepid traveller, spending time in France, where he wrote Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, beofre heading to the United States and on to the South Seas.  He married American divorcee Fanny Osbourne and later died in Samoa in 1894. 

Read On!

Books and poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson   

Catriona, the sequel to Kidnapped - find out what happens next.     

A Child's Garden of Verses - many of these simple famous poems were inspired by incidents from RLS's own childhood, and reflect 19th century Edinburgh.  

Treasure Island - "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum," the ultimate pirate adventure.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - the famously terse and psychological tale.

Discover more about Robert Louis Stevenson

Claire Harman's Robert Louis Stevenson - The Biography allows you to discover more about the intriguing and charming man.

Read about the fascinating family of celebrated engineers in Bella Bathurst's The Lighthouse Stevensons - an engaging and well researched account of the lives of RLS's grandfather, father and uncles.

Scholarly publications concerning Robert Louis Stevenson include The Journal of Stevenson Studies.