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.
R. M. Ballantyne was a Scottish writer of young adult literature who produced more than a hundred books between 24 April 1825 and 8 February 1894. He was also a skilled artist; some of his watercolors were on display at the Royal Scottish Academy. The ninth of ten children and youngest son of Alexander Thomson Ballantyne (1776-1847) and his wife Anne, Ballantyne was born in Edinburgh on April 24, 1825. (1786-1855). Robert's uncle James Ballantyne (1772-1833) was Sir Walter Scott's printer, and Alexander worked as a newspaper editor and printer in the family business "Ballantyne & Co" based at Paul's Works on the Canongate. The family is documented to have resided at 20 Fettes Row in Edinburgh's northern New Town in 1832-1833. The Ballantyne printing company collapsed the next year with debts of £130,000 as a result of a UK-wide banking crisis, which caused a decrease in the family's finances. Ballantyne moved to Canada at the age of 16 and worked for the Hudson's Bay Company for five years. He traveled by canoe and sleigh to the regions that are now the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec to trade with the local First Nations and Native Americans for furs; these experiences served as the inspiration for his book The Young Fur Traders.