12 h 27 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 27 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Among ships, pirates, and remote islands, a volcano holds a power no human courage can command.
In Blown to Bits; Or, the Lonely Man of Rakata, R. M. Ballantyne takes you into the Malay Archipelago, where sea travel brings both adventure and danger. Ships and island life fill this story, while pirates add a human threat alongside the force of nature. At its heart stands Rakata, better known as Krakatoa, the island torn apart by the great eruption of 1883.
A lonely figure on a remote island brings another kind of tension: the distance between living apart and finding friendship. Ballantyne sets courage, honesty, and kindness against cruelty and greed. His Victorian outlook shapes the journey, offering a glimpse of how readers of his time picture the tropics, face danger, and understand the power of nature.
What you’ll discover
- A volcano at the heart Enter an island setting where the threat of eruption gives nature a commanding presence.
- Danger on the sea road Follow the pull of ships and sea travel through waters where pirates threaten.
- The lonely island figure Explore the questions raised by a person living apart on a remote island.
- Friendship under pressure Discover how friendship and kindness matter in a world shaped by danger and loneliness.
- A Victorian moral compass Meet an outlook that values courage and honesty while showing the harm of greed.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love sea voyages, jungle expeditions and friendly humour, and anyone curious about volcanoes, rainforest wildlife and the real story of Krakatoa.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A storm of ash drives the Sunshine off course
- Kathy's lost father and the one-eyed pirate
- A holiday, a boatman and the hermit's cave
- A canoe voyage, a squall and a face in the moonlight
- Dyak villages, a pirate camp and a hunt for the mias
- Tigers, a python and the hermit's secret grief
- Back to a mountain that cannot be trusted
Who’s who
- Nigel RoyA cheerful young Englishman and amateur first mate who loves poetry, nature and adventure, and who takes a job with a hermit.
- Captain David RoyNigel's gruff, kind father, owner of the brig Sunshine, who puts duty first and secretly loves poetry.
- Van der KempThe gentle giant called the hermit of Rakata, a scientist and traveller who carries a hidden grief and longs to find his lost child.
- MosesThe hermit's talkative, devoted Black servant, who is afraid only of hurting his master's feelings.
- Professor VerkimierAn enthusiastic naturalist in blue spectacles who chases butterflies into every kind of trouble.
- Kathleen HolbeinA young orphan on the Cocos-Keeling Islands who draws well and still misses her father.
- BaderoonA one-eyed Malay pirate chief who hates the hermit and hunts him across the islands.
- SpinkieThe hermit's small monkey, sorrowful in looks, mischievous in nature and fiercely loyal to the canoe.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Fatti a pezzi; ovvero, L'uomo solitario del Rakata
by R. M. Ballantyne · 1889
Ash falls on a becalmed brig, and a hermit in a cave beneath Krakatoa waits for the mountain to wake.
Medium level10–20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
Picture a brig becalmed on the Indian Ocean in the darkest hour of a night in 1883. Two men pace the quarterdeck in silence.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A storm of ash drives the Sunshine off course
Captain David Roy and his son Nigel pace the quarterdeck of the brig Sunshine, arguing gently about poetry. The captain says poetry belongs to his wife and nobody else. Nigel, fresh from college, insists he is no true sailor. Their teasing shows the warm bond that holds the whole book together.
Then the captain feels ash on his sleeve. He mutters that Vulcan must be cooking up a new brew near the Sunda Strait. He checks the barometer and orders all sail taken in. A gale roars out of the strait and drives the brig before it all night. By morning the foretopmast has snapped with a report like a cannon shot. The old man does not complain. He holds that nothing is a misfortune until it is proved one.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1889
- Language
- Italiano
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Ballantyne, R. M. Blown to Bits; Or, the Lonely Man of Rakata. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/blown-to-bits-or-the-lonely-man-of-rakata.
Ballantyne, R. M. (2026). Blown to bits; or, the lonely man of Rakata. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/blown-to-bits-or-the-lonely-man-of-rakata (Original work published 1889)
Ballantyne, R. M. Blown to Bits; Or, the Lonely Man of Rakata. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/blown-to-bits-or-the-lonely-man-of-rakata.
@book{ballantyne2026blown,
author = {Ballantyne, R. M.},
title = {Blown to Bits; Or, the Lonely Man of Rakata},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/blown-to-bits-or-the-lonely-man-of-rakata},
note = {First published 1889}
}
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What is Blown to Bits by R. M. Ballantyne about?
It follows Nigel Roy, a young Englishman, who joins the hermit of Rakata on a canoe journey through the Malay Archipelago. They meet pirates, orangutans and tigers while the volcano Krakatoa grows more restless, until the great eruption of 1883.
Is Blown to Bits based on a true story?
The characters are invented, but the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 is real. Ballantyne published the book in 1889 and used the Royal Society's report for facts about the explosions, the waves, the death toll and the strange sunsets.
Who is Moses in Blown to Bits?
Moses is the hermit's faithful Black servant and friend. He is strong, funny and talkative, and he speaks in a lively dialect. He first befriends Nigel in Batavia and brings him to the hermit's cave.
The author
R. M. Ballantyne
1825–1894 · Scottish children's adventure novelist
R. M. Ballantyne (1825–1894) was a Scottish writer of fiction for young readers. He was born in Edinburgh and worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada from 1841 to 1847. He wrote The Coral Island (1857) and Blown to Bits (1889). He died in Rome.
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