The Secrets of Filming Swallows & Amazons

This is a charming and readable account of the making of the film, from the viewpoint of one of the leading actors, who was 12 years old at the time, but kept a full diary, and had access to other diaries and records; so it's not based merely on old memories.

To make sense of it, I suppose you need to have read the book or seen the film. If you've done both, so much the better, but it's not essential. The story is much the same, in book and film.

Sophie Neville wasn't a dedicated actress and didn't proceed with an acting career; even at the time, she seemed more interested in the process of film-making.

I suppose this book is of interest mainly to fans of the film, fans of the books, and anyone who is, like the author, interested in the process of film-making.

The process of making this film was unusual because the leading actors were children and because boats are important to the story—some of it had to be filmed on the water. Also, the film was made in 1973, which is quite a long time ago, so the technology and the legal and social environment were different from today's.

The book contains plenty of details of daily life, down to (for example) what they ate. You may find that it tells you more than you wanted to know in some respects; but perhaps too much information is better than too little.

“Swallows and Amazons” has been filmed several times: natural enough, as it was the first of the series of books. But it's unfortunate that it gets all the attention, because various later books in the series have better stories and might make better films. The first book has a plot, but it develops slowly and gently. Also, of course, the children are at their youngest here: they become gradually more capable as time goes on.

Another film of “Swallows and Amazons” was released in 2016, which tries to make the story more exciting by adding new elements to the plot. I haven't seen it.