{"product_id":"treasure-island-9780553212495","title":"Treasure Island","description":"\u003cb\u003eRobert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure tale of piracy on the raging tropic seas\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMasterfully crafted, \u003ci\u003eTreasure Island\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eis an unforgettable yarn of treachery that embroils a host of legendary swashbucklers from honest young Jim Hawkins to sinister, two-timing Israel Hands to evil incarnate, blind Pew. But above all, \u003ci\u003eTreasure Island\u003c\/i\u003e is a complex study of good and evil, as embodied by that hero-villain, Long John Silver; the merry unscrupulous buccaneer-rogue whose greedy lust for gold cannot help but win the heart of every one who ever longed for romance, treasure, and adventure. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSince its publication in 1883, \u003ci\u003eTreasure Island\u003c\/i\u003e has provided an enduring literary model for such eminent writers as Anthony Hope, Graham Greene, and Jorge Luis Borges. As David Daiches wrote: \"Robert Louis Stevenson transformed the Victorian boys' adventure into a classic of its kind.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThroughout his life, \u003cb\u003eRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson\u003c\/b\u003e was tormented by poor health. Yet despite frequent physical collapses-mainly due to constant respiratory illness-he was an indefatigable writer of novels, poems, essays, letters, travel books, and children's books. He was born on November 13, 1850, in Edinburgh, of a prosperous family of lighthouse engineers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAll his life Stevenson traveled--often in a desperate quest for health. As a novelist he was intrigued with the genius of place: \u003ci\u003e Treasure Island \u003c\/i\u003e(1883) began as a map to amuse a boy. Indeed, all his works reveal a profound sense of landscape and atmosphere: \u003ci\u003eKidnapped\u003c\/i\u003e (1886); \u003ci\u003eThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde\u003c\/i\u003e (1886); \u003ci\u003eThe Master of Ballantrae\u003c\/i\u003e (1889). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1889 Stevenson's deteriorating health exiled him to the tropics, and he settled in Samoa, where he was given patriarchal status by the natives. His health improved, yet he remained homesick for Scotland, and it was to the \"cold old huddle of grey hills\" of the Lowlands that he returned in his last, unfinished masterpiece, \u003ci\u003e Weir of Hermiston\u003c\/i\u003e (1896). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eStevenson died suddenly on December 3, 1894, not of the long-feared tuberculosis, but of a cerebral hemorrhage. The brilliant storyteller and master of transformations had been struck down at forty-four, at the height of his creative powers.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bantam Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50615506895122,"sku":"9780553212495","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_cc679cff-0fc6-46a3-b888-10e2266c52ac.jpg?v=1773737984","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/treasure-island-9780553212495","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}