Across the Plains

In 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson crossed the United States in an emigrant train, traveling third-class from New York to San Francisco. *Across the Plains*—here presented in clear, modern English—captures the dust, discomfort, and unexpected majesty of that journey. But this book is more than a travelogue. It is a collection of luminous essays on memory, creativity, and the quiet dramas of everyday life: the lantern-bearers of a Scottish childhood, the art of dreaming, the plea for gas lamps against the dark. Stevenson’s eye finds gold in the ordinary, and his voice—wry, tender, never sentimental—invites us to see the world anew. Faithfully updated for today’s reader while preserving the author’s spirit and structure, this edition restores one of the great writer’s most personal works. Part of The Modern Wisdom Library.