Ransome, Arthur Mitchell

Ransome, Arthur Mitchell (1884-1967), author, b. Leeds, Yorkshire, England.

Arthur Ransome began writing as a young man and his first book was published when he was twenty.

He wrote for newspapers and magazines and travelled a lot, often in a sailing boat of his own.

He visited China, Egypt, the Sudan and Russia and in 1916 he published his first book for children, Old Peter's Russian Tales.

Fourteen years later, he wrote another book for children, Swallows and Amazons. It was followed by Swallowdale (1931) and Peter Duck (1932).

These three books made him the most highly-praised children's writer in England.

Since then, Ransome's books have been translated into many languages.

His later books are: Winter Holiday (1933), Coot Club (1934), Pigeon Post (1936), We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea (1937), Secret Water (1939), The Big Six (1940), Missee Lee (1941), The Picts & the Martyrs (1943), Great Northern (1947).