The most authoritative, comprehensive, perceptive biography of R. L. Stevenson to date, using for the first time his collected correspondence - which has been unavailable to all previous writers.The short life of Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) was as adventurous as almost anything in his fiction: his travels, illness, struggles to become a writer, relationships with his volatile wife and step-family, friendships and quarrels have fascinated readers for over a century. In his time he was both engineer and aesthete, dutiful son and reckless lover, Scotsman and South Sea Islander, Covenanter and atheist. Stevenson-s books, including -Treasure Island-, -The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde- and -Kidnapped-, have achieved world fame; others - -The Master of Ballantrae-, -A Child-s Garden of Verses-, -Travels with a Donkey- - remain all-time favourites. His unique gift for storytelling and dramatic characterisation has meant that some of his characters live in the consciousness even o
