"Coots in the North" and "The River Comes First", including "The Cloudburst", have never been published before.

Preface, by Hugh Brogan.

Not many readers of this book will need telling that Arthur Ransome is famous for his Swallows and Amazons books, for Old Peter's Russian Tales, for Rod and Line, one of the best books about fishing, and for Racundra's First Cruise, one of the best of all sailing chronicles.

Arthur Ransome, Storyteller, by Hugh Brogan.

Angling was Arthur Ransome's best-loved pastime.

The River Comes First, introduction.

"Where is Thomas Staunton?"

The River Comes First.