Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, published as a book in 1883. Young Jim Hawkins finds a pirate's treasure map and sails to a distant island, where the charming and dangerous Long John Silver leads a mutiny. The novel created many of the images of pirates we still have today.
The story
At the Admiral Benbow inn, Jim finds a map of Captain Flint's treasure in the sea chest of an old sailor who has died.
Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey fit out the Hispaniola. But many of the crew are former pirates led by the one-legged cook, Long John Silver.
Long John Silver
Silver is both friendly and ruthless, a father figure to Jim and a traitor. His ambiguity makes him one of the great characters of adventure fiction.
His parrot, Captain Flint, and his crutch have become part of the popular image of the pirate.
Pirate myths
Treasure maps marked with an X, one-legged sailors, parrots and the black spot all owe much of their fame to this book.
It has been adapted many times for film, television, radio, comics and the stage.
Anecdotes
A map first
Stevenson said the novel began with a map of an island he drew in 1881 to amuse his stepson Lloyd Osbourne on a rainy day in Scotland.
A boys' magazine
The story first appeared in 1881-1882 in the magazine Young Folks, under the pen name Captain George North.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Jim Hawkins?
The young narrator, son of an innkeeper.
Who is Long John Silver?
The ship's cook and leader of the pirates.
What is the name of the ship?
The Hispaniola.