Great Northern? 3940646 180315962 2007-12-26T22:00:17Z Ged UK 735031 /* Plot summary */ wikilink to James Turner rather than Captain Flint {{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = Great Northern? | title_orig = | translator = | image = [[Image:Great Northern.jpg|200px|Typical cover art depicting a montage of [[Arthur Ransome]]'s own illustrations from the book]] | image_caption = | author = [[Arthur Ransome]] | cover_artist = [[Arthur Ransome]] | country = [[United Kingdom]] | language = [[English language|English]] | series = [[Swallows and Amazons (series)|Swallows and Amazons]] | genre = Children's books | publisher = [[Jonathan Cape]] | release_date = 1947 | media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]] & [[Paperback]]) | pages = | isbn = ISBN 1-56792-259-7 (pb) | preceded_by = [[The Picts And The Martyrs]] | followed_by = [[Coots in the North]] }} '''Great Northern?''' is the twelfth and final completed book of [[Arthur Ransome]]'s [[Swallows and Amazons (series)|Swallows and Amazons]] series of children's books. It was published in 1947. In this book, the three families of major characters in the series, the '''Swallows''' (the Walker family), the '''Amazons''' (the Blackett sisters) and the '''Ds''' (the two Callums), are all reunited in a book for the first time since ''[[Pigeon Post]]''. This book is set in the [[Outer Hebrides]] and the two familiar Ransome themes of [[sailing]] and [[ornithology]] come to the fore. ==Sources== For this story, Ransome was inspired by a fan, Myles North, an avid birdwatcher who wrote a letter to Ransome which supplied a detailed outline of much of the basic plot. He also supplied the famous phrase "What's hit's history: what's missed's mystery". Ransome also made a visit to [[Lewis]] in the [[Outer Hebrides]] for a fishing trip and to research the area as the setting for the book. ==Plot summary== The Swallows, Amazons and D's are all on a sailing cruise with [[James Turner (fictional character)|Captain Flint]] in the Outer Hebrides. While the older members of the party clean the boat before returning her to the owner, the younger ones explore inland and a mysterious bird is seen nesting on an island in a [[loch]]. The question arises whether it is a [[Great Northern Diver]] which has never been known to nest in the [[British Isles]]. An expert they consult turns out to be a deadly enemy for the birds and the rest of the book describes how they try to protect the birds while gathering evidence of their nesting. Complicating the matter is a misunderstanding with the local [[Scotland|Scottish]] inhabitants who are mostly [[Gaelic (language)|Gaelic]] speaking. {{SwallowsandAmazonsbooks}} [[Category:1947 novels]] [[Category:British novels]] [[Category:Adventure novels]] [[Category:Children's novels]] [[Category:Swallows and Amazons series]] [[cs: Velká severní?]]