His name was R.M. Ballantyne, and he not only inspired a generation of writers to take up their pens in defense of the ideals of biblical manhood, but he changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of boys for the better with his globe-trekking adventure stories that emphasized Christian character in the face of adversity.

Click here to download a FREE Ballantyne Book Brochure with descriptions of all 20 titles.

Ballantyne was not just another writer of the Victorian age who penned exciting historic fiction. His strong and uncompromising Christian presuppositions undergird all his stories. This is why we are thrilled to announce the addition of ten new titles to give you the Complete R.M. Ballantyne Adventure Library with 20 volumes.

R.M. Ballantyne was born into Edinburgh’s great 19th century publishing elite. His family firm published both Walter Scott and Thomas Chalmers. No wonder he knew how to spin a classic yarn! His prodigious output of nearly a hundred adventure stories was the natural fruit of the rich Scottish legacy of unbridled courage, undaunted chivalry, literary excellence, Christian virtue, and global vision. I am so grateful that Vision Forum has once again made these rip-roaring tales available. May they inspire the next generation to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord.— George Grant

In the twentieth century, many publishers declined to carry Ballantyne because of his strong biblical emphasis. Others hoped to capitalize on the past popularity of his books, but required that Ballantyne’s overt Gospel Christianity be stricken from his storylines.

Ballantyne — An Antidote to the ‘Slothful, Uninspired Boy Syndrome’

Do you have a boy who needs a little inspiration? Give him Ballantyne!

In the pages of these masterful literary adventures, your son will learn about the preciousness of time and the Christian boy’s call to action. He will learn that only godly character will win the day, and he will learn what it means to be a man with a Gospel mission. And he will learn this in the context of high adventure and the chivalric code of nobility. Eric Quayle, author of The Collector’s Book of Boy’s Stories explained that Ballantyne’s characters:

...rescued helpless natives from a cruel death at the hands of cannibals, or dashed through smoke and flames to the side of the swooning heroine, or plunged without a moment's hesitation into the shark infested waters for the sake of an injured friend. And, at the end of their courageous display of selfless devotion to duty, they modestly refused to accept any thanks from the victims of the drama other than perhaps a firm shake of a gratefully outstretched hand of the one who had been snatched from the jaws of a fearful death.

How He Became ‘Ballantyne the Brave’

He earned his title from Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Kidnapped. But for Ballantyne, Stevenson might never have made his travels through the Pacific where, notably, he wrote his masterpiece Treasure Island. Reading Ballantyne’s The Coral Island at age fifteen sparked in Stevenson both his life-long love for the South Seas, and a fierce devotion to his fellow Scot. Stevenson even included Ballantyne in the introduction to his book Treasure Island, where he dubbed this proponent of Gospel Christianity and boyhood adventure, “Ballantyne the Brave.” The title stuck.

They Loved Him So Much, He Received His Own Memorial

No author, including the much-beloved G.A. Henty, ever received a more overwhelming response from young boys at the time of his death. It was during 1858, shortly after The Coral Island’s publication, that Ballantyne first experienced the agreeable but embarrassing sensation of being followed through the streets of Edinburgh by admiring youngsters, and his autograph became the prize possession of many a keen Scot lad. When the news of R.M. Ballantyne’s death reached Britain in 1894, it sent shockwaves through the world of schoolboys. At first the news was met with incredulity, and then with heartfelt dismay by his tens of thousands of young readers.

Eric Quayle described it this way:

The immense popularity of the scores of books he had written for the young men of his day had created a legend regarding their author that made them eager to subscribe to what they hoped would be a lasting monument to perpetuate his name. Led by the boys of Harrow School, a movement started almost immediately when the news of his death reached England. They voted to raise a fund to erect a marble edifice so that later generations would remember the name of the man who had brought them so many hours of excitement and pleasure. Within a few months, over six hundred pounds ($1,440) had been collected in schools throughout the country, mostly in hard won pennies and sixpence from the pockets of teenage boys. Such a spontaneous gesture by the impecunious schoolboys of Victoria's Britain is without precedent and nothing of similar nature has ever occurred from that day onwards.

The Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library

One of Vision Forum’s primary missions is to equip families with tools to help them inspire boys and girls toward courageous manhood and noble womanhood. This means finding literature that challenges the cynicism of our modern age with transcendent biblical truths that give hope to our children. In the annals of nineteenth century Christian adventure literature, nothing fits that bill better than the writings of Robert Michael Ballantyne.

One of my favorite pastimes is reading the books of G.A. Henty and R.M. Ballantyne. I have read more than eighty Hentys which my father has given me, and have completed nearly twenty books by Ballantyne. Henty’s books are manly adventure stories for boys set in different periods of history. Ballantyne writes the same sort of stories but sets them in wonderful and exotic geographical locations. One thing I really like about Ballantyne is the fact that his stories are explicitly Christian. The heroes of the stories believe in the Bible, lead people to Christ, and demonstrate the kind of Christian character which I know is important. I hope other boys will enjoy the stories as much as I have. —Joshua Phillips, Age 14

Ballantyne was not just another writer of the Victorian age who penned exciting historic fiction. His strong and uncompromising Christian presuppositions undergird all his stories. He encouraged his readers to put their trust in God for this life and the next, and taught in his stories that the one safeguard against evil is the redemptive love of God.

This is why republishing the Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library fulfills a long-time dream for Vision Forum. It is why we are so pleased to release ten additional books in our series of more than sixty volumes to be printed in the months and years ahead. It is why we have produced each Ballantyne book with quality and care, offering today’s readers Smythe-sewn hardbound books that will be enjoyed by generations of readers to come. And it is why we encourage you to make “Ballantyne the Brave” your own family's faithful friend and adventure guide, confident that the man who broke tens of thousands of boys’ hearts with his passing will inspire yours with his literary return.