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Arthur Ransome
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Helen Edmundson
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Swallows and Amazons Paperback – July 28, 2010

by Arthur Ransome (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,666 ratings
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Friendship, resourcefulness, adventures! Here’s the classic tale of two families of children who band together against a common foe: an uncle who claims he’s too busy for his nieces.

The Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) are on school holiday in the Lake District and are sailing a borrowed catboat named “Swallow,” when they meet the Blackett children (Nancy and Peggy), who sail the boat, “Amazon.” The children camp together on Wild Cat Island where a plot is hatched against the Blackett’s Uncle Jim who is too busy writing his memoirs to be disturbed.

Fireworks―literally―ensue along with a dangerous contest, a run-in with houseboat burglars, and the theft of Uncle Jim’s manuscript. How all this is resolved makes for an exciting and very satisfying story. Uncle Jim ends up apologizing for missing his nieces’ adventures all summer―thankfully, readers won’t miss a thing.

Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series has stood the test of time. More than just great stories, each one celebrates independence and initiative with a colorful, large cast of characters. Like the entire series that follows, this book is for children or grownups, anyone captivated by a world of adventure and imagination, exploring and setting sail.

Previous page
  1. Reading age
    9 - 14 years
  2. Book 1 of 12
    Swallows and Amazons
  3. Print length
    352 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Grade level
    4 - 6
  6. Dimensions
    5.58 x 1.05 x 8.02 inches
  7. Publisher
    David R. Godine, Publisher
  8. Publication date
    July 28, 2010
  9. ISBN-10
    1567924204
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1567924206
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Clean and lively prose, with an earnest whimsy…The 12 books in the series are justly ranked as classics, standing with the children’s stories of Kipling, Barrie and Grahame.”―The Telegraph

“The author really does know how to write for children: in other words, he writes of what he himself delights in and so pleases without any effort both young and old.”―The Nation

“This book is both silvery present and golden retrospect. All that is tedious and sullen and deceptive vanishes in its sunniness as clouds vanish in the tempered air of a summer day. . . We think that the book will last, too, from edition unto edition.”―Saturday Review

“There is plenty of excitement, a little danger, a quality of thinking, planning and fun which is delightful and stimulating.”―Times Literary Supplement

“He makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure.”―The Observer

“For those who regret the hemming-in of childhood, the Swallows and Amazons are free-range children to gladden the heart.”―The Wall Street Journal

About the Author

Arthur Ransome spent his childhood in England’s Lake District, and after a career in journalism that took him to Russia (where he married Trostsky’s secretary), China, and Egypt (interspersed with summers of cruising through the Baltic Sea and the canals of Europe), he retired to Coniston where he could practice his favorite pastimes of sailing and fishing and where he wrote the Swallows and Amazons series.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ David R. Godine, Publisher; 0002-Revised edition (July 28, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1567924204
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1567924206
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 14 years
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 4 - 6
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.58 x 1.05 x 8.02 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,666 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Arthur Ransome

    Arthur Ransome

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    Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884 and went to school at Rugby. He was in Russia in 1917, and witnessed the Revolution, which he reported for the Manchester Guardian.

    After escaping to Scandinavia, he settled in the Lake District with his Russian wife where, in 1929, he wrote Swallows and Amazons. And so began a writing career which has produced some of the real children's treasures of all time. In 1936 he won the first ever Carnegie Medal for his book, Pigeon Post.

    Ransome died in 1967. He and his wife Evgenia lie buried in the churchyard of St Paul's Church, Rusland, in the southern Lake District.

    Photography (c) Arthur Ransome's Literary Executors & courtesy of the Brotherton Collection, Leeds University Library

    See more on the author's page
  2. Helen Edmundson

    Helen Edmundson

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
2,666 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Wayne S. Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars paean to children's make-believe play
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2012
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What did kids do to amuse and entertain themselves before television, video games, computers, and smart phones? They played outside and used their imagination. That's exactly what Captain John Walker, his sister Mate Susan, their sister Able-seaman Titty, and brother the Boy Roger do. Their father, probably in the Royal Navy, is on a ship at Malta but under orders for Hong-King, so for their summer vacation their mother has rented a cottage on a farm at Holly Howe located next to a huge lake. They also have a baby sister, Vicky, who is taken care of by a nurse. The children have been taught how to sail, and they have use of the farm's sailboat, the Swallow. While out on the lake, they find an island where they receive permission to camp.
During the course of their adventure, they meet up with the Blacketts, Captain Nancy (real name Ruth) and sister Mate Peggy, who have their own pirate sailboat, the Amazon, along with the girls' uncle James Taylor who lives on a houseboat near the island and becomes "Captain Flint" to the children. The Swallows and the Amazons declare war on each other with victory going to the side who can take the others' ship, then together they declare war on Captain Flint. Who will win? How will a burglary at Captain Flint's houseboat affect their relationship? And what will they do when a huge storm comes up over Wild Cat Island? The book had its beginning long before when as a child author Arthur Mitchell Ransome, with his brother and sisters, spent most of their holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston and played on the nearby lake, but it was further inspired by a summer in which Ransome taught the children of his friends, the Altounyans, to sail. In fact, three of the Altounyan children's names are adopted directly for the Walker family.
Swallows and Amazons, a paean to children's make-believe play and exploring their surrounding world, is a very pleasant story that involves the great outdoors, boats, fishing, and camping, with rich characterization, vivid descriptions, wholesome reading, and old-fashioned ideals. It includes a good deal of everyday Lakeland life in the early twentieth century, from the local farmers to charcoal burners working in the woods. Seldom have I ever come to the end of a book and felt sorry that it was over. If you read it and reach the same conclusion, you're in luck! Ransome wrote eleven more books in the "Swallows and Amazons Forever" series: Swallowdale (1931); Peter Duck (1932); Winter Holiday (1933); Coot Club (1934); Pigeon Post (1936); We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea (1937); Secret Water (1939); The Big Six (1940); Missee Lee (1941); The Picts And The Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All (1943); and Great Northern? (1947). A thirteenth book, Coots in the North, was left incomplete at the time of Ransome's 1967 death and published in an unfinished form in 1988 with some other short works. In subsequent adventures in the series, the children progressively grow older, change their usual roles, and become explorers or miners.
22 people found this helpful
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shamalamamoomoo
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully-written book
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
I read this book with my children when my middle son started learning how to sail. It is a delightful read, and I would place it in my top 5 children's chapter books that I've ever read (possibly even my absolute favorite). This is a great book about children living very wild, imaginative lives-- the way I wish my children were able to live. They explore, they dream, they craft, they build... They go outside! They do things that society and culture don't allow nowadays, at least where I live (in suburban California, where people get angry if you let your children explore the wild, open space freely).

Some reviews complain about certain aspects of the book that might be outdated... however, I think the fact that it was written almost a century ago adds to its charm. Yes, the children talk about natives , but they were well-off, white British children in the early 1900's... so what do people expect? Besides, while it was written in the 1930's, the cast of characters includes some strong and fiercely independent women and girls. I loved reading a book with a very smart, skilled mother who was willing to allow her children to take risks and learn difficult things. And the two girls who sailed the boat known as the Amazon? They were a joy to read about when they finally made their way into the story.

I wish I knew about this book series when I was a girl. I probably would have begged my parents to let me learn how to sail and saved up my money to take lessons.
21 people found this helpful
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GoodnSimple
5.0 out of 5 stars lovely adventure
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2023
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Great imagination and simple fun. The children are allowed to do things and no helicopter parents in sight. A great read for any with an interest in sailing. I do wonder about the monkey…
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Pete Crozier
4.0 out of 5 stars Great story of kids challenging themselves and taking chances
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2013
Verified Purchase
Child rearing seems to have been very different at the beginning of the previous century where young children are allowed to sail to rocky island alone and spend the days camping relatively unsupervised.

Although children today are generally not permitted to do this (probably be arrested for child endangerment), children can still read this book and dream about how it was or it could be.

Briefly the story is about two groups of children, a group of four siblings - the Swallows, and the other, two sisters - the Amazons, who are enamored with sailing and of being outdoors and live a rich fantasy revolving around these two desires.

The two groups are at first in conflict over who controls the island, but after a challenge settles the issue join forces to thwart skullduggery that casts unfair blame on the Swallows.

The book might be a bit slow in the beginning for younger readers, but once the two groups meet, it takes off and is exciting in a very innocent way. These are children being children, not children trying to young adults, making it very different from much contemporary fiction aimed at tweens/young teenagers.
25 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Mrs. M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet story of childhood adventure
Reviewed in Canada on October 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
For some reason, I never read this classic as a child. (I'm in my 50s now.) Too bad, because it's a wonderfully idyllic tale of family, siblings, imagination, adventure and cooperation, and it would have had a huge influence on me back then. The paperback has a lovely cover design, and the print is large and clear on quality paper. The book contains the author's original line drawings, and the text seems well-edited with no errors or typos. I enjoyed the tale very much and look forward to reading more in this series!
One person found this helpful
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Roberto capobianco
4.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo per grandi e piccoli
Reviewed in Italy on September 2, 2021
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Per chi ha poco vocabolario inglese e vuole integrare
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Valerie Lund
1.0 out of 5 stars NOT Swallows & Amazons!
Reviewed in Spain on May 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
As others have pointed out, if you purchase the Kindle edition you do NOT receive Swallows & Amazons but a 32 page study guide written for children. It isn't even a good study guide. For instance, the writer thinks charcoal is made by burning coal.
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Hirohito Nomura
5.0 out of 5 stars Britische Sommerferien mit Maritimen Elementen
Reviewed in Germany on January 18, 2020
Verified Purchase
Very very british! Tolles Buch für Kinder und Jugendliche aber auch für jung gebliebene. Wer ein Buch auf Englisch sucht, um mit seinen Kindern die Sprache zu üben ist hier richtig! Außerdem lernt man gleich die Grundlagen der Seemannschaft, das Rüstzeug für Eigenständigkeit und ganz nebenbei, wie schön die englische Landschaft ist. Ein gutes Wörterbuch oder Google müssen allerdings zur Hand sein. Über die kleine aber Spannende Geschichte über die Sommerferien macht das Vokabelsuchen sicher Spaß.
One person found this helpful
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B. Marsh
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful English book for young readers
Reviewed in Japan on November 13, 2022
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Lively English book for children aged 9-years to early teens - like my grandchild in Tokyo. Adventures to dream about, with a lovely boat to sail through the imagination.
One person found this helpful
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