BetterReads · A reading pathway
Adventure & Exile
Swordplay and shipwreck, then revenge and remaking the self.
Step 1 · Musketeers
The Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas
Honor, intrigue, and Paris in tumult
Step 2 · Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
Wrongful imprisonment and a patient revenge
Step 3 · Crusoe
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
Shipwreck, survival, and the self remade
Step 4 · Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
Maps, mutiny, and a boy among pirates
Step 5 · Kidnapped
Kidnapped
Robert Louis Stevenson
Abduction and flight through the Highlands
Step 6 · Twenty Years After
Twenty Years After
Alexandre Dumas
The musketeers reunited in middle age
Step 7 · Lord Jim
Lord Jim
Joseph Conrad
Disgrace, romance, and a bid for redemption
Step 8 · Catriona
Catriona
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped's sequel—loyalty and Appin intrigue
Step 9 · Black Tulip
The Black Tulip
Alexandre Dumas
Politics and obsession in Haarlem
Step 10 · Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Baroness Orczy
Disguise and rescue amid the Terror
Step 11 · Lost World
The Lost World
Arthur Conan Doyle
Dinosaurs on a plateau beyond the map
Step 12 · White Company
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
Medieval honor in the Hundred Years' War
Step 13 · Black Arrow
The Black Arrow
Robert Louis Stevenson
Outlaw archers in the Wars of the Roses
Step 14 · Ballantrae
The Master of Ballantrae
Robert Louis Stevenson
Brothers, Jacobites, and a feud that won't die
Step 15 · Captains Courageous
Captains Courageous
Rudyard Kipling
A spoiled heir remade by the sea
Step 16 · Four Feathers
The Four Feathers
A. E. W. Mason
Cowardice, courage, and the price of honor
Step 17 · Wolf-Leader
The Wolf-Leader
Alexandre Dumas
A diabolical pact in the forest
Step 18 · Sailing Alone
Sailing Alone Around the World
Joshua Slocum
One man circumnavigates alone, 1895
Step 19 · Racundra
Racundra’s First Cruise
Arthur Ransome
Ransome sails the Baltic in a ketch he built
