Kidnapped

Written as a "boys' novel" and published in Young Folks magazine in serial, Kidnapped was Robert Louis Stevenson's first piece of historical fiction. The novel has been adapted into a number of films and a popular comic book. Today, the book ranks among the most famous historical fiction novels, along with Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering and Charles Reade's The Wandering Heir. Kidnapped is based on and centered around the 18th-century Scottish murder case commonly referred to as the "Appin Murder." Occurring in 1752 in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising, a newly appointed government official was shot in the back. After a lengthy investigation, the chief suspect, Alan Stewart, fled the country, leaving only James Stewart as a suspect. Historians believe it was Alan Stewart who committed the crime, and while James had a solid alibi, he was convicted and hanged in the town square, fighting for his innocence. David Balfour, the main character in the novel, is accused of being an accomplice in this murder. While Balfour is a fictional character in no way tied to the actual Appin Murder case, other characters like Alan Stewart, Colin Roy Campbell and Cluny Macpherson were actual people involved in the 1752 case.