In this novel, Stevenson established the major foundations of adventure books, which would otherwise have remained mere entertaining imaginary tales for children. He created a solid and living literary genre using realistic language that almost made it a possible story, exploiting the reader's readiness to believe in the impossible, through the presence of believable elements.

He scattered here and there elements that have become an essential part of the pirate heritage and every stereotype about them in our minds, such as the map with the three red crosses, the talking parrot, the one-legged pirate, the pirates' love of drinking rum, buried treasure, walking the plank, the black mark, and the dead man's chest, to make Treasure Island the most important novel of Robert Louis Stevenson.

This novel was first published in installments in a children's magazine between 1881 and 1882. Although it was written for children, it was also admired by adults, including Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, Borges, Henry James, and others. It has been said of Treasure Island: "It is a tale that restores a man to his youth."