The Riddle of the Sands

The Riddle of the Sands is a 1903 novel by Erskine Childers. The book is highly praised and still enjoyed for its accurate portrayal of cruising in a small sailing boat.

Related Topics:
1903 - Erskine Childers

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Containing many realistic details based on Childer's own sailing trips along the North Sea German coast, the book is a story of a yachting expedition in the early 20th century.

Related Topics:
North Sea - Yacht - 20th century

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It was one of the early books which predicted war with Germany and called for British preparedness. The plot involves the uncovering of secret German preparations for an invasion of the United Kingdom. It has been called the first spy novel (a position challenged by Rudyard Kipling's Kim, that came out two years earlier).

Related Topics:
Germany - United Kingdom - Spy novel - Rudyard Kipling - Kim

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The book enjoyed immense popularity in the years before World War I and was extremely influential. Winston Churchill later credited it as a major reason that the Admiralty decided to establish naval bases at Invergordon, the Firth of Forth and Scapa Flow. It was also a notable influence on John Buchan.

Related Topics:
World War I - Winston Churchill - Admiralty - Invergordon - Firth of Forth - Scapa Flow - John Buchan

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