Treasure Island

An undisputed masterpiece * Daily Telegraph *
A poet, a rebel, a philosopher, a genius far ahead of his time, [Stevenson] has given us some of the most powerful characters of English literature * Daily Mail *
What I didn't anticipate was the power of Stevenson's prose. His ability to bring everything vividly to life is still astonishing. It was probably the first time for me that reading became as exciting as messing about. The pirate has a dangerous glamour to him, a degenerate dandyism, something, once I was in my teens, that I would admire in people like David Bowie and Sid Vicious' -- Jake Arnott * Daily Telegraph *
Reading Treasure Island at the age of seven or eight was my real awakening as a reader... it is all as frightening and exciting when read for the umpteenth time in middle age as when first discovered in childhood -- A.N.Wilson, * Daily Telegraph *
I believe Treasure Island to be Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpiece. The very opening - the murder-bent Blind Pew, tapping his way towards the isolated inn - is designed to make our flesh creep. Long John Silver is a great literary creation. Re-reading the book, it gripped me as firmly now as it did under the torch-lit blankets 60 years ago -- George Melly * Sunday Telegraph *