‘Kidnapped’ is a fantastically exciting book. The story of David Balfour running for his life across the Highlands, sometimes accompanied by tough and rebellious Alan, sometimes pursued by the English army, seemed so visceral and exciting to me that I wanted to try it for myself. 

So that is exactly what I am doing. From 30th June to 25th August, I’ll be following a route across Scotland from the south western tip of Mull to the outskirts of Edinburgh, as charted in Chapters 14–27 of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Kidnapped’.

My aim is to publish both here* and on YouTube every day while I’m out in the wild (wifi access and battery life permitting). From this series of posts you’ll be able to read and discuss the book itself, listen to extracts being read out in the places the book describes and keep in touch about where I am each day.

Perhaps there’s something you’d like me to do or think about whilst I’m walking. Perhaps you’d like me to visit specific sites and film them for you.

Or better still, perhaps you’d like to come out here and join me for a walk, add your own responses to being on the Kidnapped Trail and have an adventure of your very own.

“With my stepping ashore I began the most unhappy part of my adventures.”

Over the coming days and weeks, you’ll have several ways to get into ‘Kidnapped’, exploring the world it describes and thinking about why this book is so darn good and still relevant to our world today.

Given the book is well out of copyright, I’ve put the the full text online in the form of a wiki so you you can edit and annotate it as much as you like; indeed, I’d *encourage* you to mess about so we can perhaps end the trip with our own “mashed-up” book.)

And here’s the first reading on YouTube. Enjoy!

*Please note all the Kidnapped posts have been transferred here from the original blog at https://timwright.typepad.com/kidmapper which no longer exists.

I have archived the comments from the original site but have not included them here. If you have any queries about this project, do get in touch.