Ransome, Arthur

Ransome, Arthur (1884–1967), British journalist and author, a man of wide attainments, both in the literary field and as a fisherman and yachtsman. As a youth, books, fishing, and sailing absorbed his interests, and his first job after leaving school was in a small publishing firm. From that he turned to journalism, contributed notes and articles on fishing to many journals, and between 1909 and 1912 wrote three books, A History of Story-Telling, The Hoofmarks of the Fawn, and a book on Oscar Wilde which landed him in a libel action brought by Lord Alfred Douglas. In 1913 he went to Russia to learn the language, working as a newspaper correspondent in Moscow, and in 1916 he published Old Peter's Russian Tales, which sold well. While in the Baltic, he had a 13-ton ketch, Racundra, built at Riga, and later wrote Racundra's First Cruise (1923) about his voyages in her.

In 1924 he married Evgenia Shelepin, who had been Trotsky's secretary. A serious illness cut short his career as a correspondent and he was forced to live carefully and quietly in the Lake District. It was during this period of convalescence that his mind turned towards writing the books which were to win the hearts and imaginations of a host of young readers worldwide, for he knew at first hand the ways of a boat in the water and he was able to impart that knowledge and lore in a way that was real to children. The first two, Swallows and Amazons (1930) and Swallowdale (1931), were only moderately successful, but the third, Peter Duck (1932), established his reputation. The last Great Northern?, was published in 1947. Papers released in 2005 revealed that he was recruited into the British Secret Intelligence service, or MI6, in 1919 while he was living in Russia. Brogan, H. , The Life of Arthur Ransome (1984).