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Cover of The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

The Riddle of the Sands

Erskine Childers

  • 299 pages · about 5 hours
  • First published 1903
  • 532 editions
  • Free to read
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1 About this book

Childers's lone masterpiece, The Riddle of the Sands, considered the first modern spy thriller, is recognisable as the brilliant forerunner of the realism of Graham Greene and John le Carre. Its unique flavour comes from its fine characterization,richly authentic background of inshore sailing and vivid evocation of the late 1890s - an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and intrigue that was soon to lead to war.

Good for readers who want: adventure, spy fiction, and a book they can read free online.

  • Adventure
  • Thrillers, espionage
  • Alternative history
  • Classics
  • Thrillers
  • Espionage
  • Spy stories
  • Spy fiction

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3 About Erskine Childers

1870–1922

Robert Erskine Childers (25 June 1870 – 24 November 1922), usually known as Erskine Childers , was an English-born Irish nationalist who established himself as a writer with accounts of the Second Boer War, the novel The Riddle of the Sands (1903) about German preparations for a sea-borne invasion of England, and proposals for achieving Irish independence.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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