8 h 30 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 30 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a London afraid of dynamite, a stranger’s story can be as dangerous as a hidden plot.
Challoner, Somerset and Desborough have little to do and a taste for amusement. As these young English gentlemen wander through London, strangers draw them into odd stories and plots they only half understand. In The Dynamiter, Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson turn curiosity into a comic adventure where nobody’s account is easy to trust.
The London frame opens into tales within tales, some reaching other lands and other kinds of danger. People conceal their identities, invent histories and follow mistaken guesses. Zero Jones, an American tied to the dynamite plotting, adds danger and absurdity. Against the fear of bombs in British cities, the authors offer farce rather than sermons: playful, ironic and quick.
What you’ll discover
- Three curious gentlemen Follow Challoner, Somerset and Desborough as their search for amusement draws them toward mystery.
- Stories within stories Move from London encounters into tales that carry you toward distant lands and unfamiliar dangers.
- Nobody quite as advertised Watch hidden identities and invented histories turn each new acquaintance into a reason for doubt.
- Danger with an absurd edge Meet Zero Jones, whose part in the dynamite plotting brings menace into the comic tangle.
- Fear turned into farce Discover a Victorian satire that answers public panic with irony, deception and a taste for absurdity.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy comic mysteries, nested tales in the Arabian Nights tradition, Victorian London and Stevenson's sly, playful voice will love this book.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Three idle men promise to chase adventure
- A frightened lady leads Challoner through the dawn
- A Mormon doctor builds an elixir in the desert
- Challoner carries money to Glasgow and a surprise
- Somerset meets a spirited old lady with seven mansions
- A very odd lodger moves into the Superfluous Mansion
- Zero argues for terror and fears the mob
- Desborough loves a Cuban beauty with a tragic past
- Every tale in the book is a performance
- Stevenson frames violence with comedy and decency
Who’s who
- Paul SomersetA talkative, dreamy young barrister who loves theories and adventure, and who sets the detective bargain in motion.
- Edward ChallonerA portly, easygoing gentleman who hates fuss, yet is led by pity and politeness into a very strange errand.
- Harry DesboroughA handsome, simple, kindhearted young man who is sure nothing will ever happen to him and wants only to be useful.
- Mr. GodallThe wise tobacconist of Rupert Street, who is secretly the exiled Prince Florizel of Bohemia, and who listens to every tale.
- Mrs. LuxmoreA lively, quarrelsome old lady who owns eight houses, loves lawsuits and lends Somerset one of her houses.
- ZeroA boastful lodger who works as a dynamiter, wants fame for his explosions and is terrified of crowds.
- Teresa ValdeviaA Cuban beauty in Bloomsbury who tells Desborough a tragic story and asks him to carry a box for her.
Formats and delivery
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- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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The Dynamiter
by Robert Louis Stevenson; Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson · 1885
Three broke friends vow to grab the next adventure London offers, and each lands among dynamiters.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if a stranger in distress asked you to walk her across a sleeping city? In The Dynamiter, three penniless young Londoners promise each other to say yes to the very next adventure that offers itself.
The Dynamiter at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 55 min3 h 55 min fast, 5 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 70,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1885by Robert Louis Stevenson; Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Three idle men promise to chase adventure
The story opens in Leicester Square, where Paul Somerset meets an old friend, Challoner, who has fallen on hard times. Both men have one hundred pounds left and no notion what to do with it. They slip into the Bohemian Cigar Divan in Rupert Street, Soho, a small shop kept by a calm tobacconist named Godall.
A third young man, Desborough, wanders in for tobacco. He too owns a hundred pounds and is waiting for something to turn up. Godall tells them that a skill is worth more than money. None of them has 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
- 1885
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Stevenson, Robert Louis, and Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson. The Dynamiter. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dynamiter.
Stevenson, R. L., & Stevenson, F. V. D. G. (2026). The dynamiter. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dynamiter (Original work published 1885)
Stevenson, Robert Louis, and Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson. The Dynamiter. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dynamiter.
@book{stevenson2026dynamiter,
author = {Stevenson, Robert Louis and Stevenson, Fanny Van de Grift},
title = {The Dynamiter},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dynamiter},
note = {First published 1885}
}
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What is The Dynamiter about?
It follows three penniless young Londoners who promise to accept the next adventure that offers itself. Each meets a scheming stranger, hears a tall tale and is drawn into a plot involving bombs, lies and sudden danger.
Who is Mr. Godall in The Dynamiter?
Godall is the polite tobacconist of the Bohemian Cigar Divan in Rupert Street, Soho. He is really Prince Florizel of Bohemia, a once powerful ruler who now lives quietly in London and listens to the young men's stories.
Is The Dynamiter a sequel?
Yes, it is a second series of New Arabian Nights, which introduced Prince Florizel. A note to the reader explains who the shopkeeper is, so you can begin here and follow the story without any earlier reading.
The author
Robert Louis Stevenson
1850–1894 · Scottish novelist and poet
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist and poet, born in Edinburgh in 1850. He wrote Treasure Island (1883), A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885), and Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). He settled in Samoa in 1890 and died there in 1894.
More by Robert Louis Stevenson; Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson
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