Swallows and Amazons

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Editorial reviews

From Amazon.co.uk
Arthur Ransome was a prolific writer of children's books. Born in Leeds in 1884, it was his father, a nature-loving history professor, who inspired his love of the outdoors and nurtured a passion for fishing. As a child he enjoyed active, outdoor holidays: sailing, camping and exploring the countryside. He used many of these holiday settings for his children's stories, notably the much loved Swallows and Amazons, a book that sits comfortably in the category of "timeless classic" and remains one of his most popular titles for young people.

It is the wholesome story of four young children, John, Susan, Titty and Roger, who set out in their boat (the Swallow of the title) to an island of adventure. All seems well until they encounter their enemy. At first they are angry at the invasion of their peaceful haven by these Amazon pirates, Nancy and Peggy, who claim ownership of the land. But in time a truce is called and the Swallows and Amazons become firm friends. Camping under open skies, swimming in clear water, fishing, exploring and making discoveries is the stuff of dreams which serves to make this so charming a tale. The author manages to capture the innocence of a time when all this was real and possible. Swallows and Amazons will transport children to a fantastical place where they can play safely and roam freely, without an adult in sight.

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Amazon.co.uk Review
Arthur Ransome was a prolific writer of children's books. Born in Leeds in 1884, it was his father, a nature-loving history professor, who inspired his love of the outdoors and nurtured a passion for fishing. As a child he enjoyed active, outdoor holidays: sailing, camping and exploring the countryside. He used many of these holiday settings for his children's stories, notably the much loved Swallows and Amazons, a book that sits comfortably in the category of "timeless classic" and remains one of his most popular titles for young people.

It is the wholesome story of four young children, John, Susan, Titty and Roger, who set out in their boat (the Swallow of the title) to an island of adventure. All seems well until they encounter their enemy. At first they are angry at the invasion of their peaceful haven by these Amazon pirates, Nancy and Peggy, who claim ownership of the land. But in time a truce is called and the Swallows and Amazons become firm friends. Camping under open skies, swimming in clear water, fishing, exploring and making discoveries is the stuff of dreams which serves to make this so charming a tale. The author manages to capture the innocence of a time when all this was real and possible. Swallows and Amazons will transport children to a fantastical place where they can play safely and roam freely, without an adult in sight.

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-11-28 rating:
Swallows and Amazons
It is great to see that this timelss classic is still very popular. Like most of the sailing community Swallows and Amazons created in me a passion for sailing that has stayed with me through adult life. The adventures of John, Susan, Titty and Roger are what many children dream of. The whole series really introduced me to reading as i just wanted to hear more of their adventures. So I would recommend any adult buying these books for their childern.

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review by: date: 2008-10-02 rating:
Beautiful, gripping storytelling
My Dad had the whole series given to him in the original hardback editions, and they aroused my interest as a child, sitting as an imposing two-foot length of green spines sandwiched between other tomes. These were for serious readers, only readers of real passion and commitment would ever embark on such a long project.
And then one day I started Swallows and Amazons. And instantly I became a reader of real passion and commitment. I devoured them over and again, reading some too many times to count, in bed at night, or anywhere, anytime, reading other things in between, but always coming back for the holidays. Not just stories, but lives, friendships, adventures, imaginations exposed for me to share.
My older son is 7 on Sunday. My Dad is going to give him volume 1. I'd love to read them to him, I'd love to go back to Wildcat Island and Swallowdale, and take him with me, to my favourite places - the camp, the lights, the pigeon loft. But that would be selfish. Any day now he'll be old enough to go on his own, without me to hold his hand, to filter and control, to lead. As the telegram Roger collects on page 1 says, cryptically conveying his father's permission for the children to go solo, "Better drowned if duffers. If not duffers, won't drown."

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review by: date: 2008-03-16 rating:
Classic adventure story!
I can't believe I missed out on this one as a child... but it's just as good coming to it as an adult. The perfect lazy Sunday afternoon book to read. Adults can also escape to the wilds of Lake Windemere (Lake District), to sail up the Amazon, do battle with pirates and search for buried treasure on Cormorant Island.

The year is 1929 and story is about four children - John, Susan, Titty and Roger (in age order) - who are holidaying on the shores of Lake Windemere with their mum and baby sister, Vicky. The children are an adventurous lot and love sailing in their boat, the Swallow. Towards the end of their holiday they persuade their mum to allow them on an adventure for a week. They're allowed to sail across to the island not far away and make camp there by themselves.

This is a great adventure for these intrepid explorers. They discover a retired pirate, camp, bathe in the lake, fish and cook for themselves, and are threatened by a rival group of bandits, the Amazons (otherwise known as Nancy and Peggy). All in all a great week of fun and adventure is had by all - brilliant to read about, although there are very few children who'd be allowed to do this now! Inspired by the author's own childhood holidays at the south end of Coniston in the Lake District.

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review by: johntweedie date: 2007-12-31 rating:
Set in a gentler age
I may, at age 31, be late in coming to this book, but I'm glad I have.

The book does offer up an idealised view of childhood - a time when children were free to explore unhindered, and a time when people had much more respect for one another. I can see that this book was set just after World War I, and racism was rife throughout Europe in the form of the rise of Nazism, and with a modern view of the world this does temper your appreciation for how naively the world appears to have been portrayed in the book.

However, as I was a child growing up in the 80s, a time that wasn't so long ago, I feel that I was brought up to respect others, and was indeed given freedom to explore the parks and countryside, freedom which children nowadays appear not to have, whether this is warranted or not. In this respect, the book may be better appreciated by those who were able to enjoy the freedom to explore and imagine during their childhood, but perhaps it could inspire children nowadays to realise that not all the world is a dangerous place and that it's a much better place where you have more respect for others, and indeed, more self-confidence.

This book is brimming with characters full of imagination - there doesn't have to be sharks present just that they can imagine and pretend that there are, and likewise I really enjoyed all the maritime talk - I'm even thinking of learning to sail just so I can better get a feel for what it's like and to understand a lot of the language used in the book.


review by: mrfreedom date: 2007-09-11 rating:
Soothing adventure, hardly action-packed
Swallows and Amazons is an extremely mild children's adventure that makes pleasant reading for young and old (older readers may need to sail or know the Lake District to get the full benefit). The plot is barely evident. A group of children mess around on a lake for a few days, with just a couple of incidents occuring. The bigger of these incidents, a theft, takes up the last chunk of the book, but in keeping with the book's mildness (spoiler ahead), there is no scene in which the thieves are caught! It would have raised the book's temperature too much.
I would recommend this book for young, non-cyncial readers. I suspect that many children of a certain age would now not find as much in the book to interest them as children 50 years ago did. I can't stress how mild it is - many, many passages are taken up describing what the children eat, and the 'adventure' doesn't start properly for about 100 pages.
The best thing about Ransome's style is the way he plays it straight. He doesn't condescend, he doesn't mock, he climbs inside the children's fantasy world by using their lingo concerning pirates, hidden treasure and the like. This is what raises the book above the norm; this is why many think of it fondly.
In conclusion, I have to say that although I appreciated its qualities, I was slightly disappointed by the story (I'm 36, reading it for the first time) and it didn't quite hold my attention as much as I hoped it would. And that's with reading it while I was in the Lakes. Which is a lovely place; you must go.

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Books . Subjects . Children's Books . Ages 9-11 . Characters & Series . Swallows & Amazons
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Books . Subjects . Young Adult . Adventure & Thrillers
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