The Black Arrow [Unbound]

Product Details

• Unbound
• Publisher: Arden Library
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849550068
• ISBN-13: 978-0849550065
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,252,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a novelist, poet, short-story writer, and essayist. In 1883, while bedridden with tuberculosis, he wrote what would become one of the best known and most beloved collections of children's poetry in the English language, A Child's Garden of Verses. Block City is taken from that collection. Stevenson is also the author of such classics as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Action, Mystery, and Romance, December 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Black Arrow (Tor Classic) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is one of the best I've read. It is what every book about the middle ages should be and more, with suspense, action, disguises, escapes, and of course, the occasional love scene. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the mid-1800s, and is renowned for his many works, includingTreasure Island, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, andKidnapped. The Black Arrow, written originally for a magazine, was written after a serious illness in Stevenson, and was published right after Treasure Island.

Dick Shelton, a boy of sixteen, is quickly thrust into the conflict of the War of the Roses. He battles against almost any kind of evil - bloodthirsty pirates, a murderous priest, and even his own legal gaurdian - Sir Daniel Brackley. Through the whole book Dick strives to become a knight, and to rescue his true love. The Black Arrow is a sure winner for 6th graders and up.

57 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Adventure at it's Best, October 27, 2001

By 

"wwwwisc" (Spooner, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Black Arrow (Audio CD)

The Black Arrow is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite books, just as Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my all time favorite authors. I find it hard to believe that The Black Arrow is probably the least well know of his great adventure novels (the others being, of course, Treasure Island and Kidnapped), as it is certainly the best as far as I am concerned. As far as the story goes, it is one of the most entertaining plots that I have ever encountered. It is filled with more twists and turns than I would have thought possible, but remains very clear and fast paced. The characters are wonderful, as is the description and the writing itself. Granted, some of the language is a bit archaic, but I feel that this adds a lot to the authenticity of the story.
The Black Arrow is not a very easy read at first, but once you get into it it really flies by. It is as entertaining, exciting, and intriguing book as you will find, and I would recommend it to anyone.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two giants:R.L.Stevenson&N.C.Wyeth, May 1, 2005

By 

Pedro Martins C. Xexeo "A Curious Bibliophile" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses (Scribner's Illustrated Classics) (Hardcover)

This gorgeous edition of "THE BLACK ARROW" is a reissue of the book first published by Charles Scribner's Sons ,with N.C. Wyeth illustrations ,in 1916.Now,it is one of the splendid Scribner Illustrated Classics reissued by the Simon&Shuster Children's Publishing Division through its imprint ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS.Originally published in 1888,"THE BLACK ARROW" is a wonderful reading for people of all ages,not just for adolescents.This story was first serialised in YOUNG FOLKS(a popular british magazine for boys where "TREASURE ISLAND" also appeared for the first time) in seventeenth weekly instalments and was a success.Set in the reign of Henry VI during the troubled years of the War of the Roses,this Stevenson's novel was, at the time,a popular adventure story.Colorful characters grace this book.The hero,Richard Shelton, was imagined by Stevenson.But there is a historical personage described in the novel:the Duke of Gloucester(later Richard III).This edition's beautiful endpapers,frontspiece, and other fourteenth illustrations were painted by one of the greatest american illustrators of all time:NEWEL CONVERS WYETH(1882-1945).A giant as big as Robert Louis Stevenson(1850-94).