Swallows and Armenians
by Karen Babayan
The fictional Walker children are much-loved characters in Arthur
Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons, a quintessentially English family
in an archetypal English children’s classic. But it was an Anglo-
Armenian family that provided the inspiration for the Walkers, and
now with a book of short stories, a fellow Anglo-Armenian artist has
embarked on a mission to firmly re-establish the connection using
newly-appraised correspondence and diaries.
Taqui, Susan, Mavis (known to her family as Titty), Roger and Brigit
Altounyan lived in Aleppo in Syria. They met Ransome during a
summer holiday of sailing, fishing and camping in the Lake District
in 1928. Their experiences of learning to sail on Coniston Water
inspired the author and journalist to write his first book of fiction
for children.
KAREN BABAYAN
SWALLOWS and ARMENIANS
9 781900 687751
ISBN 978-1-900687-75-1