More than most writers, Robert Louis Stevenson requires a Literary Life.
Fascination with Stevenson's life (the 'Stevenson biography' is almost a
minor genre) has tended to eclipse his literary achievement. This study
focuses on Stevenson's writing practice within the different
geographical, cultural and political contexts that shaped it, from
Scotland to the South Seas. Following Stevenson's own views on
biography, the book is not structured primarily in terms of chronology,
but is more a kind of literary geography than traditional literary
history.