Kidnapped was published in 1886 amid one of the most productive periods of Robert Louis Stevenson's career. Although it was immediately met with popular success and critical acclaim, the novel was derided for decades as a story for children before being recognized as a major work of English literature. Set in the aftermath of the Jacobite uprising of 1745, and full of a rich blend of English and Scots, Kidnapped is a powerful work with strong Scottish...

The story follows the adventures of the protagonist, David Balfour, a young man who sets out to claim his inheritance from his recently deceased father. David travels to the Scottish town of Cramond to meet his uncle, Ebenezer Balfour, who is the executor of his father's estate. However, David quickly discovers that his uncle is a greedy and treacherous man who has arranged to have David kidnapped and sold into slavery in the American colonies. Stevenson's...