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The Last Englishman: The Double Life of Arthur Ransome (Hardback)
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Short Description for The Last EnglishmanArthur Ransome was, in the mid-twentieth century, author of a series of children's books which shaped the imagination of a generation. Rooted in the heyday of the British Empire, "Swallows and Amazons" and its sequels described a nostalgic Utopia. This title presents a revision of this English icon.
Full description- Publisher: Faber and Faber
- Published: 20 August 2009
- Format: Hardback 400 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Biography: Literary
- ISBN 13: 9780571222612 ISBN 10: 0571222617
- Sales rank: 137,065
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Full description for The Last Englishman
Arthur Ransome was, in the mid-twentieth century, what J.K. Rowling is today: author of a series of children's books which shaped the imagination of a generation. Rooted in the heyday of the British Empire, "Swallows and Amazons" and its sequels described a nostalgic Utopia. Yet before that, Arthur Ransome, famous for different reasons. Between 1917 and 1924, as Russian correspondent for the "Daily News" and "Manchester Guardian", he was an uncritical apologist for the Bolshevik regime, with unique access to the revolutionary leaders. As the Red Army engaged with an Allied invasion of Russia, Ransome was conducting a love affair with Evgenia Shelepina, private secretary to Leon Trotsky, then Soviet Commissar for War. As the intimate friend of Karl Radek, the Bolshevik Chief of Propaganda, he denied the Red Terror and compared Lenin to Oliver Cromwell. No English journalist was considered more controversial, or more damaging to British security. This is a fascinating, often chilling revision of an English icon through the most formative decade of the twentieth century.
