This vintage British children’s book series is about children and their adventures on school holidays, mostly centering around boats as the children play at being explorers and pirates.

The first book, the one that gave the series its name, Swallows and Amazons, is about how the four Walker children (John, Susan, Titty, and Roger) are allowed to go sailing and camping out by themselves when their family is on vacation at a lake. They call themselves the Swallows, after the name of their boat, the Swallow. They meet a pair of sisters, the Blacketts (Nancy (real name Ruth) and Peggy), who have their own boat, the Amazon, and play at being pirates. The two groups of children team up and do battle against the Blackett girls’ uncle because the Blackett girls are resentful that he’s been working on writing a book instead of having fun with them this summer, and the Walker children are angry that he suspects them of doing things they haven’t done. It all works out for the best, and the children have some grand adventures that summer!

In later books, other children join in adventures with the Swallows and the Amazons and have adventures of their own.

The books in this series have been popular in Britain since they were first published, and they have also inspired other books for children on similar themes, having outdoor adventures with minimal adult help or interference. Enid Blyton wrote several series for children on these themes after Swallows and Amazons was published, such as The Famous Five Series and Enid Blyton’s Adventure Series, and Elinor Lyon started her Ian and Sovra series in the 1950s, explicitly stating that she wanted to write books with similar adventures for children but with child characters who weren’t as competent as the children in Swallows and Amazons. The children in Swallows and Amazons are very knowledgeable about sailing and camping and seem to do almost everything right, and Elinor Lyon thought it would be more realistic if the children in her stories didn’t entirely know what they were doing but somehow managed to muddle their way through anyway. There are also similar books by American authors written after Swallows and Amazons, like The Invisible Island by Dean Marshall.

The series is by Arthur Ransome. He based the children on some real children he met in the Lake District in England. He named the character of Roger after Roger Altounyan, who he met when the real-life Roger was a child, visiting grandparents in the Lake District with his sisters. Real-life Roger Altounyan later became a doctor and pharmacologist, known for a pioneering treatment for asthma. The names of the fictional Roger’s siblings are also based on the real-life Roger’s siblings. The name “Titty” is odd, but it’s actually a nickname. The real-life Roger had a sister, Mavis Altounyan, who was called “Titty” as a nickname after a children’s story, Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse by Joseph Jacobs. The character of Titty is sometimes called “Kitty” in some adaptions of the story.

Books in the Series

Swallows and Amazons (1930)

The Walker children and the Blackett sisters team up for sailing, camping, and adventure one summer in the Lake District in England.

Swallowdale (1931)

The following summer after the first book, the Walker children and Blackett children are once again spending the summer at the lake and the island they call Wild Cat Island. After the Swallow is wrecked and needs repairs, the children discover a new place to explore nearby, a valley they call Swallowdale, and a secret cave.

Peter Duck (1932)

The Swallows and Amazons go sailing with the Blackett girls’ uncle and an elderly sailor called Peter Duck. “Peter Duck” was an imaginary character in an earlier book, so this story is supposed to be a sort of imagined story by the kids.

Winter Holiday (1933)

The Swallows and Amazons meet a pair of siblings, Dick and Dorothea (called the Ds), and start a new game of pretend as Arctic explorers.

Coot Club (1934)

Dick and Dorothea are spending the Easter holiday with a family friend when they meet a group of local kids who call themselves the Coot Club. The Coot Club is dedicated to protecting wild birds and their nests.

Pigeon Post (1936)

The Swallows, Amazons, and Ds go camping together and attempt to prospect for gold.

We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea (1937)

The Walker children go sailing with a friend but are accidentally left alone on his boat when it is swept down river and starts heading out to sea!

Secret Water (1939)

The four older Walker children are joined by their youngest sister, Bridget, in this adventure. Their father is called away on business for the navy, so the children camp out by themselves and meet a local boy called Donald for some new adventures.

The Big Six (1940)

The Ds visit their friends from the Coot Club, but people suspect the members of the Coot Club of letting other people’s boats loose. The Ds help them investigate and figure out who is framing them.

Missee Lee (1941)

This is supposed to be another story imagined by the kids, with all of them visiting China with the Beckett girls’ uncle.

The Picts and the Martyrs: or Not Welcome At All (1943)

The Blackett girls’ great aunt comes to look after them while their mother is away and while Dick and Dorothea are visiting. The great aunt has some strict ideas about the way children should behave, especially girls, so while she attempts to make the Amazons into more sedate and civilized girls, the Ds hide out nearby and go on secret adventures.

Great Northern? (1947)

The Swallows, Amazons, and Ds sail to the Outer Hebrides and try to protect some wild birds.

Coots in the North (1988)

Arthur Ransome died in 1967 without finishing this book. Hugh Brogan later edited the parts that were finished and published them in a collection with other short stories.