Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons’ series: Harmless holiday adventures, or detailed preparations for the next war?

Abstract

Arthur Ransome’s 12-volume Swallows and Amazons series (1930–1947), is often seen as the pioneer of the school holiday adventure story. However, a striking feature of these stories is the incorporation of a very large number of survival skills that are described in considerable ‘this-is-how-you-do-it’ detail. Previously overlooked or seen merely as references to Baden Powell’s burgeoning Scout movement, these books are better understood in the context of Ransome being a very experienced foreign correspondent. As this paper suggests, moreover, within the school holiday format, he is drawing a blueprint for rural guerrilla warfare after a successful invasion. Since the men will be away fighting, women must take leadership roles within a society, which, while respecting class differences, works harmoniously across them and which has taught its young people the skills to survive in the countryside, while observing on and reporting back about the invaders.