The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 06

This sixth volume of Stevenson's collected works contains two radically different tales that together reveal the author's remarkable range. "Treasure Island" needs no introduction: young Jim Hawkins inherits a treasure map and embarks on a voyage that will make him cross paths with Long John Silver, discovering that trust, courage, and greed make dangerous companions on the high seas. Then comes "Prince Otto," a far stranger beast: Stevenson's only sustained romance, in which a German prince and his estranged wife navigate palace conspiracies, political betrayal, and the slow, painful work of learning to love each other again. The contrast is staggering. One is pure kinetic joy of adventure; the other is a quiet, psychologically acute study of marriage and identity. For readers who've only met Jim Hawkins, "Prince Otto" will surprise and move them.