Following up clues found amongst the contents of Ransome's old trunk which was bequeathed to Leeds University, Christina Hardyment set out to settle once and for all the questions that have tantalised generations of readers of the Swallows and Amazons books. Are the people real? Are the places true?



Following in their footsteps, sailing in their wake, she resolves nearly all of the big questions. She has talked to the Swallows, untangled the mysteries, determined and identified the myriad influences, incidents and locations which Ransome incorporated into his narratives.



Now fully revised to account for a further twenty years of research, and newly illustrated with many extra drawings and previously unpublished photographs, this book is not only an essential companion to the Ransome books but a magical transposition of story into reality which will enchant and bewitch Ransome's millions of readers of all ages.