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Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson is really quite an adventure. It is one of a few classics I have read which involve the quest for an inheritance. It is an exaggerated (or is it exaggerated?) exposition on a) the lengths someone would go to deprive another of their inheritance b) the lengths one would go to right their claim c) an unlikely friendship all set in the backdrop of Scotland in the mid 18th Century as King George is continuing to subdue Scotland and tame those wild highlanders! As a reader of history and a lot of Scottish history I was enjoying that aspect of things and particularly the reference to the most famous bridge and battle at Sterling Bridge which if you have not read history would have passed right over it as David (the main character) and Alan (his unlikely friend) waited hiding in the grass hoping to cross to the castle for safety. I particularly liked the beginning of the book and his approach at the mansion he was sent to in hopes of claiming his inheritance. The excitement and adventure carried out through the book. It is a very enjoyable and exciting read that captures you and kidnaps you, taking you across Scotland, onto the high seas, abandons you on a supposed island (which was a comical scene in the book) and then living the life of a fugitive on the run from the red coats which seem to be everywhere in Scotland at the time. The book really highlights the importance of the family name and clans in Scotland at the time and the various advantages or disadvantages that might have. If you like an exciting adventure, I would certainly recommend this book. It is all the more enjoyable if you read a bit about Scotland's History. Among the histories of Scotland I have read, I would most recommend "Scotland: The Story of a Nation" by Magnus Magnusson. It is a rather long volume but is really really good and amost as exciting to read as Kidnapped. You know, as far as a history book goes. Read that one you Jacobite and then you will know what I was talking about with regard to The Battle of Sterling Bridge. Now, I am on to Russia with "Doctor Zhivago" by Pasternak. 
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