This is an enduring classic, loved by sailors and non-sailors alike, and its new illustrative material will be welcomed by readers following the storyline. This new edition includes detailed maps of the Dutch coastline and evocative black and white photographs of some of the places Carruthers and Davies visit. James in honor of his late son, who died making the same journey. With its prescient plotline and patriotic call for the nation to prepare against its foreign foes, The Riddle of the Sands has remained enduringly popular ever since it was first published in 1903. Sat 19.01 EDT W hen Charles Carruthers accepts an invitation for a yachting and duck-shooting trip to the Frisian Islands from Arthur Davies, an old chum from his Oxford days, he has no. A grieving father (Martin Sheen) walks a pilgrimage in Europe called the Way of St. Following in the adventurous tradition of H Rider Haggard, and being a clear influence on the espionage tales of John Buchan, Ian Fleming and John le Carré, The Riddle of the Sands tells the story of two young men on a sailing trip to the islands off the Dutch coast who discover a secret German naval base, and an enemy armada preparing to invade England. Winston Churchill even credited it for the Admiralty’s decision to build naval bases in Scapa Flow, Invergordon and Rosyth. It was recently ranked 37th in The Observer’s list of the 100 Greatest Novels of the past 300 years. The Riddle of the Sands is his most famous book, written in 1903.ĭescribed by Ken Follett as “the first modern thriller”, The Riddle of the Sands is the best-known sailing narrative and a true classic.

During the Irish Civil War of 1922-3 he joined the Republican army and was arrested and subsequently shot. He served in the Boer War, later becoming vocally critical of how British troops were treated by their commanding officers. In 1922, he was caught with a revolver, court martialled and executed by firing squad on November 24, 1922.Robert Erskine Childers took up sailing when a sciatic injury prevented him from taking part in many sporting activities. He did not agree with the terms of the negotiations and in protest joined the IRA.

After serving with the British army in World War I, Childers moved to Ireland, supported the Irish Republican cause and was a member of the Irish delegation negotiating with the British.

The book The Riddle Of The Sands was written (with some prescience) by Erskine Childers (1870-1922) in 1903.

Luckily, he has his old chums, Simon MacCorkindale and Jenny Agutter, along for the trip and together they put paid to the Hun with splendid, square-jawed resolve. To his horror, he discovers a Cherman plot to invade Britain is afoot. York features as a suave young toff whose fondness for yachting prompts him to go sailing in the North Sea in 1901. If you warm to the idea of Michael York as the saviour of Britain, this resolute gobstopper might prove palatable.

Riddle on the sands