Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Riddle of the Sands

The Riddle of the Sands

Childers, Erskine

Paperback

PhilosophyLiterary CriticismFiction Anthologies

ISBN13: 9791043138591
Publisher: Les Prairies Numeriques
Published: Feb 27 2026
Pages: 388
Weight: 1.14
Height: 0.86 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers, is one of the earliest examples of the spy novel genre, and became hugely popular shortly after its publication. Childers carefully interweaves fiction with real-world places, events, and politics, making for an extremely convincing story of invasion-so convincing that some (perhaps erroneously) credit the novel with spurring the creation of new English naval bases. The framing device, where Childers pretends to be an editor presenting a factual account, only adds to the believability of the story.The novel begins with Carruthers, an official in the Foreign Office, accepting an invitation from his friend Davies for what he assumes is a pleasure trip on a sailboat in the Baltic sea. As the two embark on their journey, it quickly becomes apparent that not everything is at it seems on the German coast.Riddle helped energize the spy novel genre, providing a template for countless authors to come, including Ian Fleming and John le Carré, and has been adapted numerous times for film, television and radio.The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers, is one of the earliest examples of the spy novel genre, and became hugely popular shortly after its publication. Childers carefully interweaves fiction with real-world places, events, and politics, making for an extremely convincing story of invasion-so convincing that some (perhaps erroneously) credit the novel with spurring the creation of new English naval bases. The framing device, where Childers pretends to be an editor presenting a factual account, only adds to the believability of the story.The novel begins with Carruthers, an official in the Foreign Office, accepting an invitation from his friend Davies for what he assumes is a pleasure trip on a sailboat in the Baltic sea. As the two embark on their journey, it quickly becomes apparent that not everything is at it seems on the German coast.Riddle helped energize the spy novel genre, providing a template for countless authors to come, including Ian Fleming and John le Carré, and has been adapted numerous times for film, television and radio.

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