The Master of Ballantrae

Resumen del libro

Set at the time of the Jacobite uprising, The Master of Ballantrae tells of a family divided. James Durie, Master of Ballantrae, abandons his ancestral home to support the Scottish rebellion - leaving his younger brother Henry, who is faithful to the English crown, to inherit the title of Lord Durrisdeer. But he is to return years later, embittered by battles and a savage life of piracy on the high seas, to demand his inheritance.

Turning the people against the Lord, he begins a savage feud with his brother that will lead the pair from the Scottish Highlands to the American Wilderness. Satanic and seductive, the Master was regarded by Stevenson as 'all I know of the devil'; his darkly manipulative schemes dominate this subtle and compelling tragedy. This edition takes as its text the Edinburgh Edition of the novel, the last approved by the author.

The introduction considers the novel's inspiration and its place as one of Stevenson's greatest studies in cruelty.

Biografía del autor

Robert Louis Stevenson (Edimburgo, Gran Bretaña, 1850 x{0026} x02013; Vailima, Samoa, 1894), hijo de un dominante constructor de faros, tuvo desde niño varias crisis pulmonares que le llevaron a una constante y nostálgica peregrinación en busca de climas más cálidos, hasta que en 1888 embarca hacia los mares del Sur y se establece en Samoa con su mujer, cumpliendo así el sueño de su corta vida. Sus estudios de náutica, que más tarde abandonaría por los de derecho, le permitieron entrar en contacto con las gentes y costumbres marineras, ingredientes fundamentales en algunas de sus obras más conocidas, como La isla del tesoro, La flecha negra o El extraño caso del Dr. Jekyll y Mr. Hyde.