Arthur Ransome: Master Storyteller. By WARDALE, Roger

Arthur Ransome: Master Storyteller.

Publisher:
Great Northern Books Ltd, 2010.

Near new hardback with jacket, minor marks.
160 pages, illustrated.

Arthur Ransome's delightful adventure series of children's books, "Swallows and Amazons", has captured the imagination of children and adults alike ever since they were first published in the 1930s. Even today, eighty years after the very first book was published, the series remains as popular and enduring as ever. Ransome once described writing books for children as like reliving the best part of childhood, but this was far from the whole truth. His genius as a storyteller stemmed from an almost infinite capacity for painstaking perfectionism. Once Ransome had completed the first draft, he would then settle down to write a complete revision and the most difficult chapters were written over and over again. Unhappy with the illustrations produced for the first book, Ransome persuaded the publishers to go to print with none at all, save for the cover image and by book three, he'd taken the decision to do all his own illustrations. Using primary written sources, including letters, diary entries and Ransome's own working notes, Roger Wardale expertly pieces together the fascinating story of how the twelve "Swallows & Amazons" books came to be written against the odds.

All books are sent free by courier postage within New Zealand.

ALL PHOTOS ARE OF THE ACTUAL BOOK.