The Black Arrow

The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses is an 1888 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, which can be classed genre-wise as a historical adventure novel and a romance. It first appeared as a serial in 1883 with the subtitle "A Tale of Tunstall Forest" beginning in Young Folks; A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature, vol. XXII, no. 656 (Saturday, June 30, 1883) and ending in the issue for Saturday, October 20, 1883—Stevens... more

The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses is an 1888 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, which can be classed genre-wise as a historical adventure novel and a romance. It first appeared as a serial in 1883 with the subtitle "A Tale of Tunstall Forest" beginning in Young Folks; A Boys' and Girls' Paper of Instructive and Entertaining Literature, vol. XXII, no. 656 (Saturday, June 30, 1883) and ending in the issue for Saturday, October 20, 1883—Stevenson had finished writing it by the end of summer. It was printed under the pseudonymn Captain George North. He alludes to the time gap between the serialization and the publication as one volume in 1888 in his preface "Critic [parodying Dickens's "Cricket"] on the Hearth": "The tale was written years ago for a particular audience ...." The Paston Letters were Stevenson's main literary source for The Black Arrow. The Black Arrow tells the story of Richard (Dick) Shelton during the Wars of the Roses: how he becomes a knight, rescues his lady... less