Stevensonβs brooding historical romance demonstrates his most abiding themeβthe elemental struggle between good and evilβas it unfolds against a hauntingly beautiful Scottish landscape, amid the fierce loyalties and violent enmities that characterized Scottish history. When two brothers attempt to split their loyalties between the warring factions of the 1745 Jacobite rising, one family finds itself tragically divided. Stevensonβs remarkably vivid characterizations create an acutely moving, psychologically complex work; as Andrea Barrett points out in her Introduction, βThe brothersβ characters, not the historical facts, shape the drama.β
This Modern Library Paperback Classic includes illustrations reproduced from the original edition.