A good copy with some wear to the edges and three closed tears to the head of the. The Riddle of the Sands By Erskine Childers Viking Penguin Classic review: The Riddle of the Sands Was Erskine Childers' 1903 novel the first great modern spy novel What are you reading. He was executed by a firing squad in 1922, by order of the Irish Free State.Ī gripping book in its own right even more fascinating in the context of the life and times of its author. A first edition, first printing published by Smith, Elder and Co.

The writing is gripping and it's a marvel that Childers manages to make the minutiae of sailing and navigation so engrossing.Īlthough Riddle was an instant bestseller, Childers never wrote another novel, concentrating instead on military strategy manuals before entering politics and eventually becoming a fervent Irish nationalist.Ĭarruthers and Davies are wonderful characters, the former a fop from the Foreign Office, the latter an eccentric sailing fanatic.ĭavies is based on the author and reading about his courageous struggles for king and country is particularly poignant when you know that Childers was considered a traitor by the British government at the time of his death. Described by bestselling thriller novelist Ken Follett as the first modern thriller, The Riddle of the Sands set the mold for the contemporary spy novel. It is also credited as an inspiration to everyone from John Buchan to Ken Follett. Riddle Sands by Erskine Childers, First Edition THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS The Riddle of the Sands : A Record of Secret Service The Riddle of the Sands The. simoncarr: Similar in many ways: plucky Englishman chances upon a dastardly German plot. Published in 1903, it predicted the threat of war with Germany and was so prescient in its identification of the British coast's defensive weaknesses that it influenced the siting of new naval bases. Other authors: See the other authors section.

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