Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,125 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Historical Novels·Adventure·British Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #32954.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses” is a historical adventure set amid the turmoil of King Henry VI’s reign. The story opens with a vivid prologue that places a small English village on alert as a bell summons its inhabitants to a looming conflict. Young Master Richard Shelton, a ward of Sir Daniel Brackley, rides into Tunstall with a cross‑bow at his back, confronting a cast of peasants, soldiers, and an eccentric old archer who debates loyalty and the futility of war. The narrative quickly establishes the themes of knighthood, feudal duty, and the harsh realities of a war‑torn countryside, while introducing a cast of characters whose shifting allegiances echo the larger Yorkist‑Lancastrian struggle.
Stevenson writes in a brisk, colloquial Victorian voice that blends lively dialogue with detailed description of medieval life. The prose is peppered with period dialect and occasional humor, giving the tale a lively immediacy that suits readers who enjoy richly plotted historical fiction and coming‑of‑age stories. Fans of swashbuckling knights, battlefield intrigue, and the moral growth of a young man thrust into conflict will find the novel’s blend of action, dialogue, and atmospheric setting engaging.
The opening · free to read
No one but myself knows what I have suffered, nor what my books have gained, by your unsleeping watchfulness and admirable pertinacity. And now here is a volume that goes into the world and lacks your imprimatur: a strange thing in our joint lives; and the reason of it stranger still! I have watched with interest, with pain, and at length with amusement, your unavailing attempts to peruse The Black Arrow; and I think I should lack humour indeed, if I let the occasion slip and did not place your name in the fly-leaf of the only book of mine that you have never read--and never will read.
That others may display more constancy is still my hope. The tale was written years ago for a particular audience and (I may say) in rivalry with a particular author; I think I should do well to name him, Mr. Alfred R. Phillips. It was not without its reward at the time. I could not, indeed, displace Mr. Phillips from his well-won priority; but in the eyes of readers who thought less than nothing of Treasure Island, The Black Arrow was supposed to mark a clear advance. Those who read volumes and those who read story papers belong to different worlds. The verdict on Treasure Island was reversed in the other court; I wonder, will it be the same with its successor?
R. L. S.
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