Why did I not read this before? My Goodreads profile clearly states I love adventure books, yet I never got round to reading the one book that gave birth to Captain Jack Sparrow, as in, parrots on shoulders, X marks the spot, wooden legs and eye patches and pretty much anything else that identifies someone in a pirate outfit on Halloween night.

That's right, this is the OG of pirate literature. Stevenson did for pirate literature what Tolkien did for fantasy literature, shaping the genre so thoroughly that it veering away from what he created would be seen as fake.

And the book itself? It's simply a lot of fun. Read this on a beach, during the summer (or perhaps in your backyard) and you will not be disappointed. Old but gold.