A Footnote to History

"The story I have to tell is still going on as I write ....] it is a piece of contemporary history in the most exact sense."

-Robert Louis Stevenson, A Footnote to History (1887)

A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa (1887), by Robert Louis Stevenson, describes 10 years (from 1882 to 1892) in the history of a civil war that Stevenson became involved with after moving to Samoa. During this conflict, three colonial powers-America, Germany, and Britain-battled for control of Samoa with the indigenous factions that struggled to preserve their ancient political system.

This book is the author's attempt to analyze the "elements of discord" in Samoa, giving his writing the realism of front-line journalism.