Dead Man's Chest: Travels after Robert Louis Stevenson

(Paperback, Main)

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First published to widespread acclaim in 1987, Nicholas Rankin's account of a journey in pursuit of Robert Louis Stevenson has won plaudits ever since for its blend of scholarship and flair. Through Europe and America, from the Highlands of Scotland to the islands of the Pacific, Rankin explores an offbeat and enthralling trail, charting how a Scottish bohemian became an honorary chief among the Samoans, and how a European aesthete turned to Pacific politics.

At once a pioneering travel book, an eye-opening biography and a critical reassessment of a remarkable man of letters, Dead Man's Chest is a unique and absorbing study of one of the most influential figures in the English-speaking world.

Author Bio

Nicholas Rankin worked 20 years for BBC World Service, winning two UN awards and ending up as Chief Producer. His previous books include biographies of Robert Louis Stevenson and the war-correspondent George Steer, Churchill's Wizards, a study of camouflage, deception and black propaganda in both world wars, and Ian Fleming's Commandos, the history of a WW2 naval intelligence unit. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and lives in London and Kent.