RACUNDRA’S THIRD CRUISE

Arthur Ransome (ed. Brian Hammett), Fernhurst

A reissue of Brian Hammett’s carefully researched compilation of diary notes, photographs and unpublished narrative by Arthur Ransome, which tell the next chapters in the story of Racundra after her first cruise in the autumn of 1922. Her 1923 cruise to the Finnish archipelago (included here) was curtailed to a few scattered weeks by bad weather and the demands of journalism. In the summer of 1924, Ransome was less ambitious. Racundra meanders along the rivers of Latvia while her owner fails to catch pike and bangs out articles on ‘money reform’ – until his newly wed wife discovers a mouse on board… Hammett’s scrupulous editorial approach means that most stories are heard twice but they’re none the worse for that. A book to savour.