Five Stevenson books are on this site, published between 1883 and 1889. In that stretch he wrote the two books he is remembered for, a Gothic novella and two historical adventures, and he did it while ill and moving between countries.
Treasure Island began as a map drawn for his stepson and turned into the book that reset the pirate story. Three years later he published Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the same year, which is the clearest sign of how fast he was working.
The later two, The Black Arrow and The Master of Ballantrae, are historical novels set in the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. They are less read now, but they are where his interest in divided loyalty and double character goes after Jekyll.
Where to start
Treasure Island — his first novel and still the cleanest adventure in English. If you want the short, strange one instead, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde runs to about 26,000 words and takes an afternoon.
Robert Louis Stevenson in publication order
Numbered by first publication. Word counts and reading times are for the text on this site.
| # | Year | Title | Words | Reading time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1883 | Treasure Island | 68,000 | 3.8 h | His first novel, 1883. |
| 2 | 1886 | Kidnapped | 85,398 | 4.7 h | 1886; Jacobite Scotland. |
| 3 | 1886 | Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | 26,000 | 1.4 h | 1886; the short Gothic novella. |
| 4 | 1888 | The Black Arrow | 74,000 | 4.1 h | 1888; Wars of the Roses adventure. |
| 5 | 1889 | The Master of Ballantrae | 85,000 | 4.7 h | 1889; his last completed novel. |
How to read Robert Louis Stevenson
- Publication order. Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Black Arrow, The Master of Ballantrae, 1883 to 1889.
- Shortest first. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde at about 26,000 words, then Treasure Island at 68,000. The longest here is The Master of Ballantrae at 85,000.
- The Scottish pair. Kidnapped and The Master of Ballantrae, both built on Jacobite history and on a friendship that turns into something else.
The Master of Ballantrae was the last novel he completed. Read it after Kidnapped if you want to see the same historical machinery used with much less sympathy for either side.
Every title above has a page here with chapter summaries, the word count, reading time, and free EPUB, AZW3 and KEPUB files. Robert Louis Stevenson’s shelf · Adventure and sea stories · Gothic and horror classics — or go back to Robert Louis Stevenson for the full shelf.