Robert Louis Stevenson: A Record, an Estimate, and a Memorial

This intimate portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson was written by a man who knew him, capturing the author at the height of his fame while he still lived. Alexander H. Japp draws on private letters and personal recollection to reveal the man behind such enduring works as Treasure Island, tracing Stevenson's literary development through the friendships, influences, and physical suffering that shaped him. The book paints a vivid picture of a writer perpetually weakened by tuberculosis yet sustained by fierce intellectual energy and dark humor. Japp explores Stevenson's admiration for Thoreau and other thinkers, showing how a frail, invalided Scot created adventure stories that roared with life. The result is neither a dry critical biography nor hagiography, but something rarer: a warm, immediate record by someone who sat with Stevenson through his worst nights of coughing and discussed philosophy over brandy. For readers who have loved Kidnapped or Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, this book offers the next best thing to having known the author himself.