Authors: Robert Louis Louis Stevenson
ISBN-13: 9781406792683, ISBN-10: 1406792683
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Hesperides Press
Date Published: December 2006
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Set in England during the Wars of the Roses, this swashbuckling historical novel tells of young man betrayed by his brutal guardian and forced to seek the help of a mysterious society. Brimming with action, adventure, suspense, and romance, it is a classic portrait of England during one of its most tumultuous eras.
Dick Shelton, an orphaned young noble, dreams of becoming a knight. Growing up in the house of Sir Daniel Brackley, his guardian, Dick learns the art of being a knight, becomes betrothed to an orphaned noble lady, and falls in love with her. However, Sir Daniel is not all that he seems to be. Dick learns of Sir Daniel's involvement in the murder of his father and joins a group of outlaws who have vowed revenge against Sir Daniel and those who helped him. Dick must defeat Sir Daniel, recover his true love, and somehow elude the trappings of the Wars of the Roses. This story may be less famous than Stevenson's other works, such as Treasure Island or Kidnapped, yet Stevenson is true to his writing style. Stevenson does not use complicated plot development yet fills this story with simple action and romance. His use of the vernacular lends credence to characters, and his vivid descriptions ground the book in its historical time and place. 2001 (orig. 1888), Cassell & Company Ltd/Dover Publications, Ages 12 up.
Prologue | 3 | |
Book I | The Two Lads | |
At the Sign of the Sun in Kettley | 19 | |
In the Fen | 27 | |
The Fen Ferry | 33 | |
A Greenwood Company | 40 | |
"Bloody as the Hunter" | 47 | |
To the Day's End | 55 | |
The Hooded Face | 61 | |
Book II | The Moat House | |
Dick Asks Questions | 70 | |
The Two Oaths | 78 | |
The Room over the Chapel | 85 | |
The Passage | 91 | |
How Dick Changed Sides | 96 | |
Book III | My Lord Foxham | |
The House by the Shore | 105 | |
A Skirmish in the Dark | 112 | |
Saint Bride's Cross | 118 | |
The Good Hope | 121 | |
The Good Hope (continued) | 129 | |
The Good Hope (concluded) | 135 | |
Book IV | The Disguise | |
The Den | 141 | |
"In Mine Enemies' House" | 148 | |
The Dead Spy | 156 | |
In the Abbey Church | 163 | |
Earl Risingham | 172 | |
Arblaster Again | 176 | |
Book V | Crookback | |
The Shrill Trumpet | 186 | |
The Battle of Shoreby | 193 | |
The Battle of Shoreby (concluded) | 199 | |
The Sack of Shoreby | 203 | |
Night in the Woods--Alicia Risingham | 212 | |
Night in the Woods (concluded)--Dick and Joan | 219 | |
Dick's Revenge | 228 | |
Conclusion | 232 |