Oxford World’s Classics: Kidnapped

Description

‘Your bed shall be the moorcock’s, and your life shall be like the hunted deer’s, and ye shall sleep with your hand upon your weapons.’

Tricked out of his inheritance, shanghaied, shipwrecked off the west coast of Scotland, David Balfour finds himself fleeing for his life in the dangerous company of Jacobite outlaw and suspected assassin Alan Breck Stewart. Their unlikely friendship is put to the test as they dodge government troops across the Scottish Highlands.

Set in the aftermath of the 1745 rebellion, Kidnapped transforms the Romantic historical novel into the modern thriller. Its heart-stopping scenes of cross-country pursuit, distilled to a pure intensity in Stevenson’s prose, have become a staple of adventure stories from John Buchan to Alfred Hitchcock and Ian Fleming. Kidnapped remains as exhilarating today as when it was first published in 1886.

This new edition is based on the 1895 text, incorporating Stevenson’s last thoughts about the novel before his death. It includes Stevenson’s ‘Note to Kidnapped‘, reprinted for the first time since 1922.

The Oxford World’s Classics series makes available the greatest works of world literature. Each volume presents a superb text, an introduction by a leading scholar, a chronology of the author’s life, a select bibliography, and full explanatory notes.

Key Features

• A new edition of one of Robert Louis Stevenson’s most popular and enduring works, an exciting adventure story and a key work of nineteenth-century fiction and of Scottish literature.
• The only critical edition of the 1895 edition, the last to be corrected by the author before his death.
• Ian Duncan’s introduction examines the novel’s genesis and influence, its literary contexts in the historical novel and adventure fiction (from Walter Scott to Alfred Hitchcock), and its abiding appeal.
• Includes up-to-date bibliography, notes on textual history, full and accurate notes, and a glossary of Scots words and phrases.
• Includes the map originally printed as a fold-out in early editions, and Stevenson’s ‘Note to Kidnapped’, unpublished since 1922.

About the Series

For over 100 years, Oxford World’s Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, maps, illustrations and much more. A continuous program of new titles and revised editions ensures that the series retains its breadth and reflects the latest scholarship. Comprehensive introductions, clear explanatory notes, chronologies, and bibliographies support the classic texts.

Currently providing access to novels, and other writings, from the 18th, 19th and 20th century, you can support your research using the comprehensive introductions, clear explanatory notes, chronologies, and bibliographies available in every book.

Author Biography

Ian Duncan has written widely on Scottish literature. His books include Scott’s Shadow: The Novel in Romantic Edinburgh (Princeton UP, 2007) and The Edinburgh Companion to James Hogg (with Douglas S. Mack) (Edinburgh UP, 2012). For Oxford World’s Classics he has edited Doyle’s The Lost World, Scott’s Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner, and Travel Writing 1700-1830 (with Elizabeth Bohls).