The Far-Distant Oxus

A personal favourite of Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome, the book does for Devon and ponies what he did for the Suffolk, the Lakes, and sailing. The authors were teenagers themselves when they wrote it, which is still hard to believe, and they took turns writing alternate chapters. The result is a  classic tale of adventurous children on holiday, and one which draws the modern reader in immediately. Interestingly it was Ransome who found the girls their first publisher.