The Coral Island

The coral island is a book by Scottish author R. M. Ballantyne that was published in 1857. The tale follows the exploits of three lads who are marooned on a South Pacific island after being the only survivors of a shipwreck. It was one of the first works of young adult literature to feature only young adult heroes. The book first went on sale in late 1857 and has never been out of print. It is a typical Robinsonade, a type of fiction influenced by Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The significance of hierarchy and leadership is one of the novel's key themes, along with the civilizing influence of Christianity and 19th-century imperialism in the South Pacific. The dystopian novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, published in 1954, was inspired by it and flipped the morals of Ballantyne's The Coral Island; whereas in Ballantyne's tale, the children meet evil, in Lord of the Flies evil resides within them. The book was regarded as a classic for primary school students in the UK around the turn of the 20th century, and it was frequently included on high school reading lists in the US.