Kidnapped (Rapito) is a historical adventure novel written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886, the novel was positively reviewed (recensita) by many writers of his period and after.
Based on the 18th-century Scottish events, after the Jacobite Rising (1752), the book treats (tratta con comprensione) sympathetically the Scottish Highlanders
Maybe the novel was influenced by the real story of James Annesley, a presumptive heir (presunto erede) kidnapped at the age of 12 by his uncle Richard and shipped (mandato per mare) from Dublin to America in 1728. Back to Scotland after 13 years, he return to reclaim (reclamare) his birthright (diritti di nascita) from his uncle and started a very long trial (processo) to get back his possessions.
In the novel Kidnapped, an orphan boy, David Balfour, goes to pay a visit to his uncle who first tries to kill him and then sells him to a ship captain headed (diretto) to America. One day the crew (ciurma) saves a Scottish trader, Alan Breck. He soon is discovered to be rich and the captain wants to kill him to get his money. The boy defends the stranger and takes the ship with him. Unfortunately they shipwreck (fanno naufragio), and the boy finds himself alone again on the Scottish land. After many adventure in the middle of the fights to give back the throne to James I, the boy finds his friend. Together they go back to the boy’s uncle and discover that David is the real owner of his uncle’s possessions. His uncle had tries to kill him to keep everything for him. The journey has been useful to the boy to know his real identity and to know better the historical roots of his homeland.