The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service

Rating:
Summary: 5 +
Review: This is one that is a keeper. No matter how I thin my shelves, this one stays! There are comments about style..plot..etc., the reader must keep in mind the era this was written in. This was before the Nasty Nazis, but did project a, even then, German thinking about control in Europe. Besides, it is a ripping good yarn, matey!

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for the sailor & spy fiction afficianado.
Review: 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.