9 h 47 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 47 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A coin toss divides two brothers, but no ocean can put their hatred out of reach.
At Durrisdeer, a noble house in southern Scotland, a small decision sets two sons on different paths. James, the Master of Ballantrae, is charming, daring and ruthless. Henry Durie is dutiful, proud and slow to anger. Against the unrest of the Jacobite cause, Robert Louis Stevenson turns their rivalry into a dark adventure where family loyalty offers little shelter.
Ephraim Mackellar, the loyal family steward, tells most of the story through his own memories and loyalties. His account brings you close to a household under strain, while Chevalier Burke, an Irish soldier of fortune, opens a window onto the Master's adventures abroad. Pirates, exile and a relentless grudge widen the tale beyond Scotland, with the family's peace at stake.
What you’ll discover
- Two brothers at odds Watch charm and ruthlessness press against duty as resentment takes hold within one family.
- A steward's divided account Read Mackellar's memories with an eye for the loyalties that shape what he tells.
- Adventure with a dark heart Follow a tale that reaches from a Scottish country house into the world of pirates.
- Loyalties under strain Meet Alison Graeme, promised to the Master, as changing family fortunes divide her loyalties.
- The cost of hatred Discover how a grudge can consume a life and threaten everyone drawn into it.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like Scottish history, tales of rival brothers, sea and wilderness adventure, and a charming villain told by a loyal, flawed narrator.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A coin divides the brothers
- Gossip turns Henry into a traitor
- The absent brother rules the house
- Charm hides the Master's cruelty
- The duel settles nothing
- Hatred draws Mackellar into violence
- Fear for Alexander deepens the feud
- Favoritism and pride feed hatred
- Mackellar tells only one side
Who’s who
- The Master of Ballantrae (James Durie)The brilliant, charming elder son who rides to war and returns again and again, wanting money, revenge, and the full admiration of everyone he meets.
- Henry Durie, later Lord DurrisdeerThe honest younger brother who stays home, runs the estate, marries his brother's sweetheart, and suffers the family's favoritism in silence.
- Ephraim MackellarThe dry, loyal steward who tells the story, loves Henry, hates the Master, and is surprised by his own fear and spite.
- Alison Graeme, later Mrs. HenryThe spirited heiress who marries Henry out of pity while her heart stays with the Master, and slowly learns her husband's worth.
- The old Lord DurrisdeerThe gentle, scholarly father who loves his reckless elder son best and cannot see the harm that favoritism does.
- Secundra DassThe quiet, sharp-eyed Indian servant who follows the Master across the world, listens at doors, and shows more skill than anyone guesses.
- Colonel Francis BurkeThe boastful Irish soldier who flees with the Master after Culloden and later tells his own colorful, unreliable version of their adventures.
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The Master of Ballantrae
by Robert Louis Stevenson · 1889
A coin toss sends one Scottish brother to war and starts a feud that follows two brothers across an ocean.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Who is going to tell the old man?”
In short
What happens when a family decides its future with one toss of a coin? In 1745, at Durrisdeer on the Scottish shore of the Solway, a father and his two sons argue over who will ride out for Prince Charlie.
The Master of Ballantrae at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 45 min4 h 30 min fast, 6 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 81,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1889by Robert Louis 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
A tossed coin sends the elder brother away
In 1745 the house of Durrisdeer holds a gentle old lord, his clever and reckless elder son James, the Master of Ballantrae, his honest younger son Henry, and Alison Graeme, an orphan with a fortune the estate needs. She is promised to the Master.
When news comes that Prince Charlie has landed, the family plans for one son to ride for King James and one to stay loyal to King George, so the house survives whoever wins. The Master refuses to stay behind. He offers a guinea. Heads Henry goes, shield he stays. The coin lands shield up, and Henry says they will live to regret it.
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Details
- First published
- 1889
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Master of Ballantrae. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-ballantrae.
Stevenson, R. L. (2026). The Master of Ballantrae. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-ballantrae (Original work published 1889)
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Master of Ballantrae. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-ballantrae.
@book{stevenson2026master,
author = {Stevenson, Robert Louis},
title = {The Master of Ballantrae},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-master-of-ballantrae},
note = {First published 1889}
}
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What is The Master of Ballantrae about?
It follows two Scottish brothers, James and Henry Durie, after a coin toss sends James to the 1745 rising. His return, his schemes, and Henry's growing hatred drive a feud across Scotland, the sea, New York, and the northern wilderness.
Who tells the story in The Master of Ballantrae?
The story is told by Ephraim Mackellar, the family's steward, who loves Henry and distrusts the Master. He also includes memoirs by Chevalier Burke and a trader's account, so you see the Master through several different eyes.
Is The Master of Ballantrae a true story?
It is fiction. It is set against the real Jacobite rising of 1745 and the battle of Culloden, but the Durie family and their feud are Stevenson's invention. He completed it by 1889, as his dedication shows.
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.
“Who is going to tell the old man?”
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