"Why do they call him Black Jake? Is it because of his hair?' Titty asked."
"'Because of his heart' said Peter Duck."
The Swallows and Amazons, as well as Captain Flint and the ancient able seaman Peter Duck, set sail on the "Wild Cat" bound for the Channel. But they are shadowed by the "Viper," manned by none other than Black Jake -- a beastly pirate with a dark plan. Can the children race ahead and uncover the buried treasure before the pirate? Can they survive storms, earthquakes, crabs and even a waterspout and make it home?

John, Susan, Titty and Roger sail their boat, Swallow, to a deserted island for a summer camping trip. Exploring and playing sailors is an adventure in itself but the island holds more excitement in store. Two fierce Amazon Pirates, Nancy and Peggy, challenge them to war and a summer of battles and alliances ensues.

"'You know what it's like. Dark at teatime and sleeping indoors: nothing ever happens in the winter holidays.'"
Or so Nancy thinks. Then the lake ices over completely and the Swallows and Amazons, along with Dick and Dorothea -- 'the D's' -- plan a race to find the North Pole. How will they reach it if they can't sail? By sledges of course But when a blizzard blows up and there is a mix up about signals, the D's disappear into the Arctic night. Disaster looms. Can the Swallows and Amazons save their friends?"

Dick and Dorothea - also known as The Ds - arrive in Norfolk all ready to learn how to sail. They couldn't hope for a better teacher than Tom Dudgeon. But Tom is in a spot of trouble. After seeing the beastly Margoletta moored clean across the nests of his beloved coots, Tom set the motorcruiser adrift.

The Swallows are marooned with just a little sailing boat for company. Will they survive their chance to become true explorers?
When the Walker family's holiday plans are ruined by Daddy having to work, the whole summer seems lost at sea. But a dull holiday for the children is too miserable to bear so their parents hatch a plan. The Swallows are to be marooned on an island with only a blank map and a little sailing dinghy. Their task? To explore and chart the area, avoid the endless mud and survive. And what do they discover? Well, they might not be as alone as they first thought."

Plunge into the Norfolk Broads as the Ds join up with the Coot Club once again, this time to solve a very baffling crime.
"'Why shouldn't we be detectives too?'"
When Dick and Dorothea arrive in the Norfolk Broads all set for a blissful summer on the river, they find their friends the Death and Glories in a very bad situation. Accused of setting boats adrift, sabotage and theft, the boys are under suspicion by everyone on the river. And in the meantime, the real culprits are still at large. There's no choice but to form a crime-busting team: The Big Six. As the evidence stacks against...

The Swallows, Amazons and Ds are united again for Arthur Ransome's final story in the series.
Flat on his front, binoculars to his eyes, alone at dusk, Dick makes a remarkable discovery: two rare birds, never before seen in the British Isles. Captain Flint and his crew decide to consult an expert to confirm the discovery. But when the man they ask turns out to have his collector's eye on the birds' eggs, not to mention skins, an enjoyable voyage around the Outer Hebrides becomes a desperate race to save the birds, and themselves."

Plunge into the Norfolk Broads as the Ds join up with the Coot Club once again, this time to solve a very baffling crime.
"'Why shouldn't we be detectives too?'"
When Dick and Dorothea arrive in the Norfolk Broads all set for a blissful summer on the river, they find their friends the Death and Glories in a very bad situation. Accused of setting boats adrift, sabotage and theft, the boys are under suspicion by everyone on the river. And in the meantime, the real culprits are still at large. There's no choice but to form a crime-busting team: The Big Six. As the evidence stacks against...

In the tenth instalment of the Swallows and Amazons series, the young crew come face-to-face with the fiercest pirate of the South China Seas.
'So long, ' called the harbourmaster. 'Don't run into Missee Lee '

The Swallows, Amazons and Captain Flint are on a round-the-world voyage. It's been plain sailing for a hundred ports and now they are on their way to China. A friendly harbourmaster has given them a warning: to watch out for pirates roaming the waters around the Chinese coast, but they haven't paid much heed. Until the day that Gibber the monkey accidentally...

Originally published in 1915, this book gathers together a collection of papers on tuberculosis by the renowned British epidemiologist Arthur Ransome (1834-1922). The papers approach the subject from a number of different viewpoints, encompassing both scientific and public health perspectives, and draw on Ransome's experience of more than fifty years fighting tuberculosis. Illustrative figures and notes are also incorporated within the text. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in tuberculosis and the history of medicine.