Stevenson said of THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE 'the public will like it...for it is picturesque and curious and dismal' and indeed it has remained popular with generations of readers.Set in the period following the Jacobite rebellion of 1745,this is the story of two brothers locked in combat,for whom mutual destruction becomes inevitable.Family relationships also dominate WEIR OF HERMISTON,which was Stevenson's last and probably finest novel.Archie is the tyrannised son of Weir, 'the hanging judge',and his eventual estrangement from his father launches him into a world of romantic intrigue and adventure.Stevenson did not finish WEIR OF HERMISTON before his death in 1894,but a summary of his notes and conversations included in this edition points to the intended outcome of this remarkable tale.