Posted by Peter Ceresole on May 31, 2010 at 13:55:29 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: The time of year in posted by Tom Napier on May 31, 2010 at 06:34:58:
Actually, Ransome is remarkably specific about dates.
Maybe to create an impression of authenticity? The point is that he wasn't really trying to write history, more adventure stories that felt as though they could have been real.
And after all he made mistakes; he did his recces quite a bit later than the putative dates of the stories, so got a few details wrong (I'm thinking of the radio towers at Bawdsey which wouldn't have existed at the time that WDMTGTS would have been happening).
If anything it makes the stories more fun to read... If you enjoy that kind of detective work. I know I do.
And when would they have had running water on the first floor at Beckfoot, eh? Somebody tell me that...