The Black Arrow

By Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson, N.C. (Illustrations) Stevenson, Robert Louis. (Text) Wyeth, et al.

Book Overview

From the beloved author of Treasure Island

Originally serialized in a periodical of boys' adventure fiction, The Black Arrow is a swashbuckling portrait of a young man's journey to discover the heroism within himself. Young Dick Shelton, caught in the midst of England's War of the Roses, finds his loyalties torn between the guardian who will ultimately betray him and the leader of a secret fellowship, The Black Arrow. As Shelton is drawn deeper into this conspiracy, he must distinguish friend from foe and confront war, shipwreck, revenge, murder, and forbidden love, as England's crown threatens to topple around him.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141441399
• ISBN13: 9780141441399
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.6" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Beautiful Book...

the illustrations are great......and the book is in great shape

Classic Adventure

This book by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my absolute favorite classics. It has excellent well-rounded characters. In the space of two years I read it approximately ten times. If you like outlaws, shipwrecks, English wars, villainous knights, maidens in distress, revenge, forgiveness, and Shakespearean elements like stabbing people behind tapestries, this is the book for you. The plot reminds me a bit of Hamlet.

Two giants:R.L.Stevenson & N.C.Wyeth

This gorgeous edition of "THE BLACK ARROW" is a reissue of the book first published by Charles Scribner's Sons ,with N.C. Wyeth illustrations ,in 1916.Now,it is one of the splendid Scribner Illustrated Classics reissued by the Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing Division through its imprint ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS.Originally published in 1888,"THE BLACK ARROW" is a wonderful reading for people of all ages,not just for adolescents.This story was first serialised in YOUNG FOLKS(a popular british magazine for boys where "TREASURE ISLAND" also appeared for the first time) in seventeenth weekly instalments and was a success.Set in the reign of Henry VI during the troubled years of the War of the Roses,this Stevenson's novel was, at the time,a popular adventure story.Colorful characters grace this book.The hero,Richard Shelton, was imagined by Stevenson.But there is a historical personage described in the novel:the Duke of Gloucester(later Richard III).This edition's beautiful endpapers,frontspiece, and other fourteenth illustrations were painted by one of the greatest american illustrators of all time:NEWEL CONVERS WYETH(1882-1945).A giant as big as Robert Louis Stevenson(1850-94).

Classic Adventure at it's Best

The Black Arrow is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite books, just as Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my all time favorite authors. I find it hard to believe that The Black Arrow is probably the least well know of his great adventure novels (the others being, of course, Treasure Island and Kidnapped), as it is certainly the best as far as I am concerned. As far as the story goes, it is one of the most entertaining plots that I have ever encountered. It is filled with more twists and turns than I would have thought possible, but remains very clear and fast paced. The characters are wonderful, as is the description and the writing itself. Granted, some of the language is a bit archaic, but I feel that this adds a lot to the authenticity of the story. The Black Arrow is not a very easy read at first, but once you get into it it really flies by. It is as entertaining, exciting, and intriguing book as you will find, and I would recommend it to anyone.

A Masterpiece

The Black Arrow seems to me to be one of the most underrated books I have ever seen. It is one of the very few works Of Stevenson and probably one of the best. It is an excellent mix of romance, drama and action, and is guaranteed to hold your interest. It is Stevensons only work in the field of Romance/Drama and is a work to rival such classics as The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask. The language has a slight archaic ring to it which is, after reading the foreword by Stevenson, realized to be quite deliberate. A must read.

Action, Mystery, and Romance

This book is one of the best I've read. It is what every book about the middle ages should be and more, with suspense, action, disguises, escapes, and of course, the occasional love scene. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the mid-1800s, and is renowned for his many works, includingTreasure Island, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, andKidnapped. The Black Arrow, written originally for a magazine, was written after a serious illness in Stevenson, and was published right after Treasure Island. Dick Shelton, a boy of sixteen, is quickly thrust into the conflict of the War of the Roses. He battles against almost any kind of evil - bloodthirsty pirates, a murderous priest, and even his own legal gaurdian - Sir Daniel Brackley. Through the whole book Dick strives to become a knight, and to rescue his true love. The Black Arrow is a sure winner for 6th graders and up.

A superb adventure novel

"The Black Arrow" is R. L. Stevenson at his best. With a smooth, proper style Stevenson creates complex, conflictive characters in an adventure full of emotion and thrills. For anyone who likes adventure, this novel is going to be one of his/her favorites because in this book Stevenson combines beauty with danger.