The Life of a Ship

'The Life of a Ship' is a classic adventure tale about a young boy named Davy who has always dreamt about going to sea and living the life of an fearless fisherman. A perfect escape from the drudgery of everyday life. After years of watching ships being built at the docks and going on short excursions with his father and grandfather, he finally gets the chance to go on a great fishing expedition.

But is Davy up for the challenge?

A perfect fit for fans of exciting 19th century adventure stories complete with a potent take on morality.

Recommended for fans of Daniel Defoe's adventure novel 'Robinson Crusoe' and Walt Disney's 1960 movie 'Swiss Family Robinson' starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur and Janet Munro. Nobel-Prize winning author William Golding also drew inspiration from Ballantyne's seafaring and adventure prose for his cult novel 'The Lord of The Flies'.

R. M. Ballantyne was a Scottish writer specialising in the juvenile fiction genre. He was born as Robert Michael Ballantyne into a family of well-known printers and publishers in Edinburgh. At age 16 he travelled to Canada where he served with the Hudson's Bay Company for six years. He returned to Scotland in 1847 and published his first book the next year, 'Hudson's Bay: or Life in the Wilds of North America'. For several years he was employed by the publishing house Messrs Constable. But in 1856 he decided to leave the literature business. Instead he began writing a series of adventure stories for young readers.