Swallows and Amazons

The first title in Arthur Ransome's classic series, originally published in 1930: for children, for grownups, for anyone captivated by the world of adventure and imagination. Swallows and Amazons introduces the lovable Walker family, the camp on Wild Cat Island, the able-bodied catboat Swallow, and the two intrepid Amazons, Nancy and Peggy Blackett. 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