It is 1934. Five children run away from a cruel orphanage, steal a magical steamship, and go on many marvelous adventures around the Hebridean Islands. A wild and rollicking tale where children take hold of their destinies. As timely now as it was when it was first published, climb and sail out into uncharted waters, facing mysterious witches and harnessing your courage in the face of the unknown. This is the resurrection of a successful children’s adventure story. The book had a huge print run from Methuen, however, the books were lost in December 1940 when tens of thousands of incendiary bombs famously missed their target, St. Paul's cathedral, only to destroy more than five million books in the storage offices of four publishers. Consequently, there were very few copies in circulation.