Big Six [Hardcover]

Arthur Ransome (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

Another adventure by the author of "Swallows and Amazons".

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“He makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure.” –Observer

“There is plenty of excitement, a little danger, a quality of thinking, planning and fun which is delightful and stimulating.” –TLS --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

“He makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure.” –Observer

“There is plenty of excitement, a little danger, a quality of thinking, planning and fun which is delightful and stimulating.” –TLS --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Sagebrush Education Resources (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613789695
• ISBN-13: 978-0613789691
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,323,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds in 1884 and went to school at Rugby. He was in Russia in 1917, and witnessed the Revolution, which he reported for the Manchester Guardian.

After escaping to Scandinavia, he settled in the Lake District with his Russian wife where, in 1929, he wrote Swallows and Amazons. And so began a writing career which has produced some of the real children's treasures of all time. In 1936 he won the first ever Carnegie Medal for his book, Pigeon Post.

Ransome died in 1967. He and his wife Evgenia lie buried in the churchyard of St Paul's Church, Rusland, in the southern Lake District.



Photography (c) Arthur Ransome's Literary Executors & courtesy of the Brotherton Collection, Leeds University Library

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cracking detective yarn for kids everywhere, August 15, 2001

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Six: A Novel (Swallows and Amazons Series) (Paperback)

"Big Six" is Arthur Ransome's ninth book in the Swallows and Amazons series. It features neither Swallows nor Amazons but rather follows once more the adventures of the two D's and their friends of the Coot Club on the Norfolk Broads. In this story, some members of the Coot Club happen to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and suddenly find themselves accused of certain misdeeds. Unfortunately, the allegations hanging over them are serious enough to threaten the very future of the club unless the true miscreants can be discovered and exposed. So, rather than spending their time sailing or engaged in acts of bird preservation, the Coot Club has no choice but to turn into a detective agency instead, determined to clear the name and restore the reputations of their friends.

The central plot aside, Ransome still finds ways within this story to involve the children in many typical pre-war Norfolk Broads' activities and introduce us to some wonderful Norfolk characters. Indeed, throughout this book, he manages to paint a vivid picture of life on the Broads in a by-gone era; all using language and a writing style that should appeal to both children and grown-ups alike. As usual, the story is presented with intelligence, charm and wit, as well as with an overriding humility and an obvious love for the places and people of whom he writes.

Some episodes in this book (especially the smoking of the eels) will have most adults crying with laughter, while for the majority of younger readers the excitement of the detective story will undoubtedly be the overridingly memorable element. Ultimately, though, it is the author's heart-warming respect for children and the way they see the world around them that shines through and makes this book so enjoyable for readers of all ages.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detective work on the Norfolk Broads, September 25, 2001

By 

W. Weinstein "William Weinstein" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Six: A Novel (Swallows and Amazons Series) (Paperback)

The other group of children that Arthur Ransome created, the Death or Glories and Tom Dudgeon, Port and Starboard, collectively known as the Coot Club are here embroiled in another adventure. Accompanied by the Ds, whom avid readers will know from earlier AR books, they turn detective and track down the villians who are casting off boats on the Norfolk Broads. As usual Arthur Ransome was writing in a class of his own. A note of caution: don't imagine that Norfolk and the surrounding countryside, especially Lowestoft, bears any resemblance to the places described in these books. The last two thirds of the 20th century were not kind to our poor old country and nowhere is this more starkly illustrated than in our seaside towns. Read the book instead and dream of life before the car was king.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great detective Story, October 4, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Six: Follows the Norfolk Broads Adventure in 'Coot Club' (Hardcover)

An outstanding example of Ransome's work. A wonderful childern's book that is woth reading at any age. Teaches you a lesson about sticking to it. Three boys are thought to be casting off boats in a small English village. They are implicated by everyone in town. They do not give up, but become detectives to extricate themselves. In an ingenious and evolving plot they manage to catch the real perpetrators. The night time ending is as exiciting as anything. Whether you read it once or a 100 times you'll love it