Strong Winds series allusion to Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series as well as other works, particularly R.L. Stevenson's "Treasure Island" and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha". Cassandra Jardine, reviewing for "The Daily Telegraph", wrote ""The Salt-Stained Book"... is not just a homage to the Swallows and Amazons stories. Donny and Anna, Jones's fictional characters, live in the contemporary world, escaping social workers, rather than pirates. There's far more emotion than in Ransome's books" but "they share the same confident, risk-taking spirit..." Amanda Craig, reviewing "The Salt-stained Book" for "The Times" "...wasn't sure about the historical framing device that gives the novel
S. I. Martin S. I. Martin S. I. Martin (born 24 April 1961) is a British author, historian, journalist and teacher, specialising in Black British history and literature. He wrote "Britain's Slave Trade" for Channel 4 Books to accompany the channel's television documentary "Windrush", a novel, "Incomparable World", charting the progress of three black exiles living in 18th-century London, and has written works of fiction for children to widen the consciousness and knowledge of the slave trade. Aside from authorship, Martin actively promotes the knowledge of Black British history through his work with London schools, borough councils, English Heritage, the National Maritime Museum,