Publisher's Synopsis
'The Coral Island' by R. M. Ballantyne is a forgotten adventure classic that deserves to be remembered, and not merely because it holds an interesting place in literary history: William Golding's classic first novel Lord of the Flies was written at least in part as an "answer" to, as a criticism of Ballantyne's optimistic, almost idyllic tale of three young boys shipwrecked on a south sea island. Ballantyne spins an exciting tale of shipwreck and survival, of encounters with cannibals and pirates that holds up remarkably well for its age of nearly a century and a half. A rousing adventure, it is a marvelous tale of buccaneers and sailing ships, high adventure and boyhood courage in the in the best traditions of R.L. Stephensons Kidnapped or Treasure Island.
