Arthur Ransome

Russia in 1919 (Dodo Press) Arthur Ransome

Arthur Mitchell Ransome (1884-1967), was a British author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, which tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads areas of England. Ransome was born in Leeds, where his father lectured as a Professor of History. He attended Yorkshire College, his father's college, for a year studying chemistry. However, he abandoned the college and went to London to become a writer. He took low-paying jobs as an office assistant in a publishing company and as editor of a failing magazine while writing and becoming a member of the literary scene of London. After he had become involved in the literary and artistic life of London, he wrote Bohemia in London (1907) about some of the personalities he knew. In 1913 he left his wife and daughter and went to Russia to study folklore. In 1916 he published Old Peter's Russian Tales, a collection of 21 folktales from Russia.