In search of Swallows & Amazons: Arthur Ransome's Lakeland

by Roger Wardale

Using diaries of Ransome and his wife, journals of his friends and Ransome's own notes, Roger Wardale has pieced together the story of how "Swallows and Amazons" and its Lake District successors came to be written.

Genres: Nonfiction

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Elizabeth Nordstrand]

The pictures and descriptions were wonderful, but it's another example of how creative people rarely live their lives without angst and drama. I will never be able to read Ransome's books with the same child-like wonder as before.

[John Barclay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very specific book for a very specific reader. It's a lot of fun to think of finding all the places in Swallows and Amazons, to hear about the things that are just as Ransome wrote them and the things he changed. The trouble is that it's not a very interesting book.

Wardale has a lot to say, a lifetime of reading and loving the books has given him a lot of knowledge, but he assumes FAR too much knowledge of the Lake District and NONE about the plots of the books. He falls between chairs far too often, telling us the plots of the books but not the background on the area he's talking about.

Still, as a lifelong S&A fan, it was a fun read and a great book for a planned holiday to the Lake District next year.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part biography, part guide book, this is an interesting read for anyone who has read Arthur Ransome's books about the Swallows and the Amazons. My only complaint is that it seems to be something of a jumble in the middle and later parts, skipping around in a way that makes it difficult to use as an accompaniment to reading any particular book.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

An attempt by leading Ransome scholar Roger Wardale to track down the original locations for Ransome's Lakeland stories, a task not always possible to achieve, given that Ransome's Lake is, essentially, fictional. Also a guide to many significant locations in Ransome's life. Let down a bit by not terribly well reproduced b&w illustrations.

[Hannah Finch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh good heavens. I bought this book after going to the Lake District and doing the Swallows and Amazons tour with a boyfriend who thought I was insane. Happy days....

[Jennie Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating if you love Swallows and Amazons :)