Swallows and Amazons series Swallows and Amazons series The "Swallows and Amazons" series is a series of twelve children's books by English author Arthur Ransome, named after the title of the first book in the series and set between the two World Wars. The twelve books involve adventures by groups of children, almost all during the school holidays and mostly in England, but including four sailing trips that go outside England. The stories revolve around outdoor activities, especially sailing. Literary scholar Peter Hunt said he believes the series "... changed British literature, affected a whole generation's view of holidays, helped to create the national
Swallows and Amazons series shaggy heads of hair or hats". The sixth book in the series, "Pigeon Post", won the inaugural Carnegie Medal from the Library Association in June 1937, recognising the best 1936 children's book by a British subject. It was reviewed in "The New York Times" the month after J. B. Lippincott & Co. of Philadelphia published the first U.S. edition. Ellen Lewis Buell welcomed the latest work in the six-year-old series that had firmly established "a special niche in juvenile literature". She noted the children's "vivid collective imagination which turned play into serious business" (hunting a gold mine on the moors)