'Who can think of a pirate without conjuring up the image of Long John Silver?' Daily Mail

What I didn't anticipate was the power of Stevenson's prose. His ability to bring everything vividly to life is still astonishing. It was probably the first time for me that reading became as exciting as messing about. The pirate has a dangerous glamour to him, a degenerate dandyism, something, once I was in my teens, that I would admire in people like David Bowie." -Jake Arnott, author of The Long Firm

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on the 13 November 1850. He studied at Edinburgh University and also qualified as a lawyer. He travelled extensively in Europe and began his writing career during these years. He also met his future wife, Fanny, in France in 1876.They were married in 1880. In 1883 he published Treasure Island to great acclaim. Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde were both published in 1886. Problems with his health meant that Stevenson frequently travelled in the warmer climates of the South Seas. He died in Samoa on 3 December 1894.