Coots in the North and Other Stories
by Arthur Ransome 
, Hugh Brogan (Editor)
Swallows and Amazons (13, unfinished)
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A collection of Arthur Ransome stories, including five chapters from the 13th, unfinished Swallows and Amazons book.Tags
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A charming book collecting, and publishing posthumously, a miscellany of previously unpublished works by Arthur Ransome. An extensive first chapter, by Hugh Brogan, puts the works into the context of Ransome's life and broader oeuvre. The rest of the book is all from Ransome, with two chapters from an unfinished work "about an old schoolmaster, and a fisherman and a boy and a river" showing both his love of the landscape and of fishing (and with incidents that readers will see were later worked into the Swallows and Amazons series), followed by two very early, and very dark, folkloric pieces set in Russia and France. These are followed by two lovely (and funny) short stories set in the Baltic told by an old boatman to his current show more employer. I particularly liked "Two shorts and a long" for it's depiction of a competent (to the disgust of the teller) woman sailor (and it's echoes of the central romance in "Riddle of the Sands")! Finally there's the surviving chapters of Ransome's final, unfinished S&A story, given the name "Coots in the North" by Brogan, for it brings together the characters from both the Lakeland stories and the Broads stories, with the Death & Glories stowing away in a motor cruiser that's being delivered from Jonatt's boatbuilders to a new owner on the northern lake. It's tantalising and great fun to read. Whilst this book is primarily for Ransome aficionados, I think the early stories would stand on their own for the general reader and perhaps entice them to read more by this great writer. show less
Nov 19, 2025English (UK)
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HMS: Make Your Child a Lover of Books, Ages 9 & up
111 works; 2 members
Author Information
100+ Works 18,558 Members
Children's author Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds, England on January 18, 1884. As a child, he spent many vacations sailing, camping, and exploring the countryside in England's Lake Country. He studied chemistry for one year at Yorkshire College before dropping out to become a writer. He worked for a London publisher and then for the Manchester show more Guardian newspaper. He wrote his first book, Bohemia in London, in 1907 and went to study folklore in Russia in 1913. In 1916, he published Old Peter's Russian Tales, a collection of 21 folktales. During World War I, he became a reporter for the Daily News and covered the war on the Eastern Front. While in Russia, he also covered the Russian Revolution in 1917. He eventually settled in England's Lake District with his second wife. In 1929, he wrote Swallows and Amazons, which was the first book in his well-know Swallows and Amazons series about children who sail and explore the lakes and mountains of England. He drew inspiration for the books from his own childhood memories. In 1936, he won the Carnegie Medal for children's literature for Pigeon Post. He died on June 3, 1967. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Arthur Ransome has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
Hugh Brogan was R. A. Butler Professor of History at the University of Essex, when he retired from full-time teaching. Since then he has been designated Research Professor at Essex
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Work Relationships
Has as a reference guide/companion
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Coots in the North and Other Stories
- Original publication date
- 1988 (posthumous) (posthumous)
- People/Characters
- Thomas Stainton (river Bela keeper); Thomas Staunton; John William (Canon, schoolmaster); Jenny; Fedot ('the Holy', shepherd); Ankou (show all 19); Luch; Yvon; Mr Morris (owner of the 'Kitty'); Kitty (yacht); Hurst; Barbara Ellison; Joe; Bill; Pete; Bonnka (motor cruiser); Arthur Ransome; Dorothea Callum; Nancy Blackett
- Important places
- Brittany, France; Lake District, Cumbria, England, UK; Norfolk, England, UK; Russia; St. Petersburg, Russia (as Petrograd); Sweden (show all 7); Tallinn, Estonia (as Reval)
- Epigraph
- [None]
- Dedication
- [None]
- First words
- "Coots in the North" and "The River Comes First", including "The Cloudburst", have never been published before.
Preface, by Hugh Brogan.
Not many readers of this book will need telling that Arthur Ransome is famous for his Swallows and Amazons books, for Old Peter's Russian Tales, for Rod and Line, one of the best books about fishing, and for ... (show all)Racundra's First Cruise, one of the best of all sailing chronicles.
Arthur Ransome, Storyteller, by Hugh Brogan.
Angling was Arthur Ransome's best-loved pastime.
The River Comes First, introduction.
"Where is Thomas Staunton?"
The River Comes First. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Salvage ain't so bad after all."
Coots in the North. - Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 130
- Popularity
- 252,353
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.88)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
