Born in Edinburgh in 1850, to strict Calvinist parents, Robert Louis Stevenson was a famous Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer. His ill health meant that he spent the latter part of his life voyaging the world, in an attempt to find a climate that suited his health, and this contributed to the exoticism of much of his work. He finally settled in Samoa, and died in 1899. Revered during his lifetime, and often harshly underrated since his death, Robert Louis Stevenson is today recognized as one of the the great writers of the nineteenth century, having influenced authors such as Graham Greene, Jorge Luis Borges and Vladimir Nabokov.

Stevenson published this collection of his early fiction in 1882, after the pieces had appeared in various magazines. The first half features two popular detective-story cycles, The Suicide Club and The Rajah's Diamonds, which deal with a macabre secret society and the intrigues and escapades involving exotic jewels. The second half brings together unrelated pieces, including the seminal 'The Pavilion on the Links' - described by Conan Doyle as the first short story in the world - which is set in a cottage surrounded by quicksand and tells the story of two old friends who become rivals for the affection of a woman.

An eclectic, entertaining compilation, New Arabian Nights represented a milestone in Stevenson's creative development and confirmed his reputation as one of the finest storytellers in the English language.

From my very childhood Robert Louis Stevenson was an incarnation of happiness for me.