GajimaruClassics.
Treasure IslandOn the coverThe Hostage, N. C. Wyeth, 1911
Treasure Island
A boy finds a dead sailor’s map and ships out for buried gold, only to learn the crew is half pirate, led by the charming, treacherous one-legged Long John Silver. The adventure that set the mould for all of them.
Character notes and context for the chapter you’ve read.
The original treasure-map adventure, and still the best, taut, salty, and morally slippery, with one of literature’s great ambiguous villains. A perfect book to be swept away by.
Settingc. 1750 · the high seas
The mid-18th-century age of sail, when fortunes crossed the sea in wooden ships and a chest of buried Spanish gold could turn an honest crew murderous.
On screen & beyond
- Disney live-action film with Robert Newton as Silver (1950)
- Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper in the classic Hollywood version (1934)
- Muppet Treasure Island (1996)