The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service

Absolutely thrilling and intriguing true story. God as they come for adventure and a spy classic

Winston Churchill credited this yachting story with causing the Admiralty to develop the Scapa Flow, Invergordon and Rosyth bases on the North Sea Coast to protect against an invasion from Germany. The novel itself is filled with details of yachting, and the beginning chapters, in particular, have a strident tone attacking British indifference to that threat. Unless you read the book in its historic context ten years or so before World War I, you may find the book ponderous and not very exciting. But seen in its historic context, and remembering that there were no earlier fact laden spy novels, you can see the debt later spy masters owe to this novel. Once past the opening, the book tells its tale in a very exciting and satisfying manner. It's one of those books that reward a bit of patience in the early going before coming alive. This Kindle version was perfectly produced by Richard Seltzer at Samizdat, and the price is certainly very attractive. If you are tempted to purchase out of copyright Kindle editions, it's always worthwhile to see if Samizdat has one on offer, and to subscribe to the Samizdat email service to learn of new titles added to the Kindle format. Robert C. Ross 2010

I became aware of 'The Riddle Of The Sands' while reading Andrew Lownie's biography of my favorite author, John Buchan ('The Thirty-Nine Steps'). Buchan, a contemporary of Childers, reviewed a reissue of the book in 1926, calling it, "the best story of adventure published in the last quarter of a century". Well, 78 years later not much has changed. The writing is witty, intelligent and literate and the story at once simple yet complex. This novel is a perennial favorite among small-boat sailors, and is certainly "riddled" with enough sailing jargon to perplex most landlubbers. All of this is, however, very neatly integrated into a spy story that, like many of Buchan's wonderful novels, starts with the slenderest of threads and challenges the characters to figure out the skullduggery using sheer wit and intelligence. It may sound trite, but they really don't make 'em like they used to.

This book has been described to me both as "the best Yachting Book written" and "The book that saved Britain". Written in part as a wake-up call to the British Public at the turn of the last century -Childers (no stranger to Whitehall politics) was terrified that existing British strategy left the country wide open to an invasion from Germany- and in part as a celebration of a lifelong passion for boats and boating, the book "works" brilliantly. Even non-yachting enthusiasts will be drawn into the story, and those of us who have worked our way along a foggy coast by chart and compass will appreciate Childers' attention to detail and faithfulness to his subject. Overall I found the two principal characters well drawn, but the Germans are a bit cartoonish, and the hint of Romance towards the end was an un-needed distraction, other than that, this is a quite-un-put-downable novel of adventire & daring that MAY just have changed the course of history.

Widely considered the first modern spy novel, and the still the best book about sailing. Perhaps a bit tedious due to the 100 year old prose, but well worth it. It is very appearant that the author, Childers, knows his subject matter. Not only was he an avid yachtsman, and a foreign office employee, but he knew a bit about spying, too - he was executed for running guns to the IRA in the 1916 rebellion. This book is somewhere between Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Treasure Island. Truly a classic...and the movie's great too.

... not that I know enough about literary history to be able to vouch for that myself. It's hard to explain exactly what its kind is. Call it a modern spy story: and I think what makes it modern is the feeling that the protagonists are no more than a stone's throw from society, often WITHIN society, and can some of the time claim protection from society; and yet if they turn down the wrong street or move a mile or two to the left they might as well be in the wilds of Siberia, for all the mercy that anyone will show them. Everyone in this novel, in innocence or in guilt, leads a kind of double life.Two stories run side by side: the riddle of the title, concerning an unknown threat to England, and the redemption of a feckless civil servant named - naturally - Carruthers. The setting is lovely; the life aboard ship is vividly described; the author never leaves important details vague. But do pay close attention to the map in the front of the book as you read.