New BBC One documentary series Books That Made Britain looks at how the landscape of the North West has inspired local writers.
In British literature, islands emerge as places of particular power. They offer magic, intrigue and adventure as well as damnation.
The Cumbrian landscapes that have inspired some of Britain’s most loved authors will be celebrated in a new series of documentaries produced by BBC English Regions in partnership with BBC Learning as part of the #LoveToRead season.
Arthur Ransome is one of Britain’s best-loved authors of children’s books – but he hid a very dramatic secret…
The boathouse at the Slate Quay where Arthur Ransome came as a child sits at the southern end of Coniston Water. How wise he was to write about the places, the culture and experiences that he knew so well. The boathouse came to be owned by Bridgit Sanders, nee Altounyan, who was the inspiration for…
In an article heralding the new film of Swallows and Amazons released yesterday, the Daily Telegraph pointed out that Arthur Ransome saw the children’s novel as his last chance of popular success as an author…
The Walker children in Arthur Ransome’s famous book – now a new film – were actually inspired by a family from the Syrian city of Aleppo.
WITH its summer idyll of campfires and children playing pirates Swallows and Amazons is one of those adventure stories, like Peter Pan and Treasure Island, that has stood the test of time.
‘Any book worth reading by children,” wrote Arthur Ransome in his autobiography, “is also worth reading by grown-up persons.” As one of the millions who loved the Swallows and Amazons books as a child, I was wary of revisiting them as a grown-up person …