The Master of Ballantrae: A Winters Tale (The Unabridged Illustrated Edition)


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In 'The Master of Ballantrae: A Winters Tale', Robert Louis Stevenson expertly weaves a tale of love, jealousy, and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Jacobite rebellion in 18th century Scotland. This unabridged illustrated edition provides readers with a fully immersive experience, allowing them to delve into the complexities of human emotions and power struggles. Stevenson's vivid descriptions and engaging dialogue capture the essence of the time period and transport readers to a world of adventure and intrigue. Robert Louis Stevenson, known for his captivating storytelling and vivid imagination, drew inspiration from his experiences growing up in Scotland to create this gripping tale of family rivalry and moral dilemmas. His unique writing style blends historical accuracy with fictional elements, making 'The Master of Ballantrae' a timeless classic that continues to entertain readers of all ages. I highly recommend 'The Master of Ballantrae: A Winters Tale' to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, compelling characters, and intricate plot twists. Stevenson's masterful storytelling and rich narrative make this book a must-read for those seeking a captivating journey into the past.




The Master of Ballantrae


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The Master of Ballantrae: A Winters Tale (The Unabridged Illustrated Edition)


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The Master of Ballantrae is a book by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, focusing upon the conflict between two brothers, Scottish noblemen whose family is torn apart by the Jacobite rising of 1745. The novel is presented as the memoir of one Ephraim Mackellar, steward of the Durrisdeer estate in Scotland. The novel opens in 1745, the year of the Jacobite Rising. When Bonnie Prince Charlie raises the banner of the Stuarts, the Durie family-the Laird of Durrisdeer, his older son James Durie (the Master of Ballantrae) and his younger son Henry Durie-decide on a common strategy: one son will join the uprising while the other will join the loyalists. That way, whichever side wins, the family's noble status and estate will be preserved. Logically, the younger son should join the rebels, but the Master insists on being the rebel (a more exciting choice) and contemptuously accuses Henry of trying to usurp his place, comparing him to Jacob. The two sons agree to toss a coin to determine who goes ... Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 26 most translated authors in the world.




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Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes


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"We are all travellers in what John Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world-all, too, travellers with a donkey: and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend. He is a fortunate voyager who finds many." -Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879) Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879) is a classic of travel literature by Robert Louis Stevenson about his 12-day, 120-mile walking tour in the French Cévennes mountain range, accompanied by his donkey, Modestine. This book is one of the first to present hiking and camping as recreational activities, and is as influential as Stevenson's fiction.










Elsket and Other Stories


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Example in this ebook ELSKET. "The knife hangs loose in the sheath." —Old Norsk Proverb. I spent a month of the summer of 188- in Norway—"Old Norway"—and a friend of mine, Dr. John Robson, who is as great a fisherman as he is a physician, and knows that I love a stream where the trout and I can meet each other alone, and have it out face to face, uninterrupted by any interlopers, did me a favor to which I was indebted for the experience related below. He had been to Norway two years before, and he let me into the secret of an unexplored region between the Nord Fiord and the Romsdal. I cannot give the name of the place, because even now it has not been fully explored, and he bound me by a solemn promise that I would not divulge it to a single soul, actually going to the length of insisting on my adding a formal oath to my affirmation. This I consented to because I knew that my friend was a humorous man, and also because otherwise he positively refused to inform me where the streams were about which he had been telling such fabulous fish stories. "No," he said, "some of those —— cattle who think they own the earth and have a right to fool women at will and know how to fish, will be poking in there, worrying Olaf and Elsket, and ruining the fishing, and I'll be —— if I tell you unless you make oath." My friend is a swearing man, though he says he swears for emphasis, not blasphemy, and on this occasion he swore with extreme solemnity. I saw that he was in earnest, so made affidavit and was rewarded. "Now," he said, after inquiring about my climbing capacity in a way which piqued me, and giving me the routes with a particularity which somewhat mystified me, "Now I will write a letter to Olaf of the Mountain and to Elsket. I once was enabled to do them a slight service, and they will receive you. It will take him two or three weeks to get it, so you may have to wait a little. You must wait at L—— until Olaf comes down to take you over the mountain. You may be there when he gets the letter, or you may have to wait for a couple of weeks, as he does not come over the mountain often. However, you can amuse yourself around L——; only you must always be on hand every night in case Olaf comes." Although this appeared natural enough to the doctor, it sounded rather curious to me, and it seemed yet more so when he added, "By the way, one piece of advice: don't talk about England to Elsket, and don't ask any questions." "Who is Elsket?" I asked. "A daughter of the Vikings, poor thing," he said. My curiosity was aroused, but I could get nothing further out of him, and set it down to his unreasonable dislike of travelling Englishmen, against whom, for some reason, he had a violent antipathy, declaring that they did not know how to treat women nor how to fish. My friend has a custom of speaking very strongly, and I used to wonder at the violence of his language, which contrasted strangely with his character; for he was the kindest-hearted man I ever knew, being a true follower of his patron saint, old Isaac giving his sympathy to all the unfortunate, and even handling his frogs as if he loved them. Thus it was that on the afternoon of the seventh day of July, 188-, having, for purposes of identification, a letter in my pocket to "Olaf of the Mountain from his friend Dr. Robson," I stood, in the rain in the so-called "street" of L——, on the —— Fiord, looking over the bronzed faces of the stolid but kindly peasants who lounged silently around, trying to see if I could detect in one a resemblance to the picture I had formed in my mind of "Olaf of the Mountain," or could discern in any eye a gleam of special interest to show that its possessor was on the watch for an expected guest. To be continue in this ebook