Originally designed as a story for boys, Stevenson's novel is narrated by the teenage Jim Hawkins, who outwits a gang of murderous pirates led by that unforgettable avatar of amorality, Long John Silver. But Treasure Island has also had great appeal for adult readers and was admired by Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, and (reluctantly) Henry James. The story has the dreamlike quality of a fairy tale and has worked its way into the collective imagination of more than five generations of readers, gaining the power of myth.

(From the publisher):

A classic since the day it was published in 1882, Stevenson's unmatched adventure has made generations yearn for the high seas.

Treasure Island was first set down as a map to entertain twelve-year-old Lloyd Osborne, home for the holidays in wet Braemar. But as Robert Louis Stevenson's imagination filled with the exploits of the rum-soaked buccaneer Captain Flint, Israel Hands, babbling Ben Gunn, nimble Jim Hawkins, and, of course, that most appealing of merciless villains Long John Silver, it grew into a story--perhaps the most famous adventure story of all time.

First published serially as The Sea Cook, or Treasure Island, in the periodical Young Folks, 1881-1882.