Biography

Born in Scotland, Stevenson was an unconventional and adventurous novelist, poet, essayist, short story and travel writer with a remarkable gift for captivating story-telling. Some of his prose works, such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, remain enormously popular and have inspired numerous adaptations and film versions.

Stevenson rejected the law for a life as a writer, often travelling to warmer climes for his health. He wrote numerous stories and essays based on his experiences in France and the South Seas. Marrying an American woman took him to San Francisco, where he became stepfather to her two children.

Although the family returned to Europe, Stevenson’s health continued to be affected by the climate, and he travelled again to the South Seas and the island of Samoa, immersing himself in the culture.  He died there aged forty-four and was buried on a mountain top over looking his home.

Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson

Sing Me A Song of A Lad That Is Gone - Robert Louis Stevenson - Read by Andrew Motion

Books by Robert Louis Stevenson

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