The Last Englishman: The Double Life of Arthur Ransome

Chambers, Roland

ISBN 10: 1567924174 / ISBN 13: 9781567924176

Published by David R Godine Pub, 2012

About this Item

US 1st edition 1st impression, no inscriptions not price clipped.

Seller Inventory # Scs2460

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Last Englishman: The Double Life of Arthur Ransome
• Publisher: David R Godine Pub
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1567924174
• ISBN 13: 9781567924176
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

Arthur Ransome, best known for the Swallows and Amazons series, led a double, and often tortured, life. Before his fame as an author, he was notorious for very different reasons: between 1917 and 1924, he was the Russian correspondent for the Daily News and the Manchester Guardian, and his sympathy for the Bolshevik regime gave him access to its leaders, politics, and plots. He was friends with Karl Radek, the Bolshevik's Chief of Propaganda, and Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the secret police. In this biography, Chambers explores the tensions Ransome felt between his allegiance to England's decencies and the egalitarian Bolshevik vision, between the Lake Country he loved and always considered home and the lure of the Russian steppes to which he repeatedly returned. What emerges is not only history, but also the story of an immensely troubled man not entirely at home in either culture or country.

About the Author

Roland Chambers is a biographer and children's book author. He divides his time between London and Connecticut.