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Racundra's Third Cruise

Arthur Ransome author Brian Hammett editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Fernhurst Books Limited

Published:8th May '18

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Racundra's Third Cruise cover

Most people know of Arthur Ransome, the author of the classic children’s sailing tale, Swallows & Amazons, and many other books in the same series. But besides his exciting tales of children on the water there is much more to the man. Before he wrote Swallows & Amazons, Ransome was a journalist for the Daily News, based in Russia. He is reputed to have played chess against Lenin and he married Trotsky’s secretary. He cruised extensively in the Baltic in the 1920s on board his beloved Racundra. His account of his first cruise on that boat was his first commercially successful book, Racundra’s First Cruise (also available from Fernhurst Books). The second cruise was spoilt by bad weather, but the third cruise was special – it was his honeymoon having married Evgenia Shelepina. Ransome clearly intended to publish the account of this cruise, but never finished it. Ransome enthusiast, Brian Hammett, got hold of the unpublished manuscript and found Ransome’s hand-written notes, diaries, logbooks and photographs in the Ransome archive at Leeds University. Brian compiled this book, adding his own notes from his cruises in the same area. The result is a glorious volume which has delighted Ransome enthusiasts, sailors and landlubbers equally. This new paperback edition and eBook will be published on 8th May – the very day that Ransome and Shelepina got married in 1924 before their honeymoon cruise which is recounted in this book.

“There isn’t a paragraph in it that is not a delight to read… Few books have been edited with more enthusiasm and dedication… This is a labour of love for which Ransome’s many admirers have reason to be enormously grateful.” (The Independent) “His easy descriptive prose is as fresh as it ever was.” (Classic Boat) “The day-to-day details of the cruise will be music to the ears of sailing enthusiasts, but the keen eye of Ransome the journalist ensures there is plenty to hold the attention of those of us who don’t know the difference between a centreboard and a centre-forward.” (The Keswick Reminder) “A superbly well-written book which is worth reading at a suitably leisurely pace and savouring every exquisite minute.” (Lifeboat) “For the general cruising fraternity, this slim paperback is highly recommended as the kind of book to have on board in case of enforced idleness in a sheltered anchorage while waiting for inclement weather to pass. Although it describes a world long gone, it nails much that is important, enjoyable and interesting about the cruising life.” (Flying Fish) “Here’s a book that’s worth taking with you to that special anchorage, a book worth hiding away with… It’s pure gold dust.” (Sailing Today) “An intriguing insight into how we went yachting in the first quarter of the 20th century… For anyone interested in the early days of cruising, it’s compulsive enough. For anyone who first set sail with the Swallows and Amazons, it’s an absolute must.” (Practical Boat Owner)

ISBN: 9781912177110

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 280g

128 pages

2nd edition