The Secret Life of Arthur Ransome

Following the release in March by the National Records Office of two reconstituted government files concerning Arthur Ransome's years in Russia, the BBC commissioned a documentary film which Griff Rhys Jones investigated whether Ransome was a British spy or a Bolshevik sympathiser during the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Griff Rhys Jones also tracked down the last surviving relative of Ransome's second wife, Evgenia, in St Petersburg, and spent a day sailing one of Ransome's boats, Coch-y-Bonddhu, on Windermere.

More Information:

• Secrets: The National Archives press release, and the actual documents
• Enigma: 'Still an Enigma, Our Petrograd Correspondent' - The Guardian's David Pallister remains confused
  
• Examination: 'Whose Side Was He On?' asks Roland Chambers in the Guardian
• Fears: 'MI5 Feared Ransome Was a Double Agent' in the Daily Telegraph
  
• Interview: 'Swallows, Amazons, Spies and Bolsheviks' in the Yorkshire Post
• Preview: 'Secretive Water' in Yachting Monthly and a mention the Windermere Steamboats Museum's newsletter
• Review: Arthur Ransome skeptic Sam Wollaston becomes an admirer, in the Guardian
• Comments: Discussion thread on TARBoard