Buy new:

$4.06

List Price: $8.95

Save: $4.89 (55%)

$3.99 delivery Friday, April 5. Details

Or fastest delivery April 2 - 4. Details

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$4.06 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

SecondStoryBooks

Ships from

SecondStoryBooks

Sold by

SecondStoryBooks

Sold by

SecondStoryBooks

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$8.95
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: Amazon.com

Added

Not added

$9.19
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Heavncent Treasure

Added

Not added

$5.68
+ $8.96 shipping

Sold by: Y_Not_Books

Follow the author

Erskine Childers

Follow

The Riddle of the Sands (Dover Thrift Editions) Paperback – May 19, 2011

by Erskine Childers (Author)

288

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$4.06","priceAmount":4.06,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"4","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"06","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"lkdzF1zckIzi8jB0G9VomNPes3s8px09lgxjlGAPdK3KYse7AvimVgYvgtkoeu0wJvuncEeXxxoGepazpjr6LuuWElRXjIsvwzycsA3B%2Bo0OLuTJFCkepBbXPYehPuR2cVchGtQiBemLXm4LRBcA1g%2BecET2gv288Qf25o2U26u2emIqrDlvFQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Regarded as one of the best spy stories ever written, this is the classic Secret Service novel. More like fact than fiction, it holds a special place in the affections of spy-novel fans for its richness of technical detail about inshore sailing, its highly sympathetic characters, an unsurpassed narrative style, and a setting and plot that recapture the European political scene on the eve of World War I.
Two young Englishmen, Davies and Carruthers, head for the Baltic Sea in the late 1890s for a holiday of sailing and duck-shooting. The mood gradually darkens as Davies discloses his suspicions of espionage in the North Frisian Islands, and Carruthers joins in an investigation that develops into a series of increasingly dangerous intrigues. Norman Donaldson, an expert on detective and suspense fiction, offers an Introduction with details about the author as well as the novel's background and its place in the history of the spy-novel genre.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dover Publications
Publication date

May 19, 2011
Reading age

14 years and up
Dimensions

5.17 x 0.63 x 8.33 inches
ISBN-10

0486408795
ISBN-13

978-0486408798
Lexile measure

1100L
See all details

Frequently bought together

The Riddle of the Sands (Dover Thrift Editions)

$8.95

Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 3

Only 6 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$14.25

Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 3

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

One of these items ships sooner than the other.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Erskine Childers
32
Paperback
4 offers from $5.94
Ben Macintyre
31,588
Paperback
166 offers from $1.84
Erskine Childers
8
Paperback
1 offer from $8.99

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A former British imperialist who converted to the Irish nationalist cause, Erskine Childers (1870-1922) wrote about Irish politics and military matters. His life of conspiracy, gun-running, adventure, and rebellion concluded with his court-martial and death by firing squad.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications; Reissue edition (May 19, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486408795
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486408798
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 years and up
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1100L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.17 x 0.63 x 8.33 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,009,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8,353 in Espionage Thrillers (Books)
- #22,139 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #41,526 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
288

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Erskine Childers

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

288 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Joseph

Magnificent prose, penetrating character study, great "buddy" adventure!

Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

This was a great discovery for me, though the novel is hardly a secret to scholars of espionage novels. The continually unfolding dramatic relationship between the two main characters is told in magnificent prose that brings out all the subtleties of personal interaction between two complex personalities. As a spy novel, it will pass the high bar set by lovers of John Le Carre. The shifting, treacherous sands of the shallow German coastline, through which the heroes navigate their small sailboat, is a profound metaphor not only for the mystery they wish to solve and subterfuge they encounter, but also for the continual trickery which the human character imposes upon itself and others in its attempt to see reality clearly, and beneath which lurks the ever-present danger of war--which the two heroes seek to prevent, or at least prepare for. If this novel may appear dated to some, it can only be because English prose no longer rises to the excellence demonstrated here.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

T. L. Spotti

Like the Sherlock Holmes mysteries

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

Like the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, this 100+ year old book stands up very well. If you happen to be into sailing small sailboats, this book is a must as it gives a very detailed account of how two guys sail around in the Northern European seas trying to solve a mystery which seems to imply a possible German invasion of England. And they are doing this under very difficult conditions of weather, extreme tides, and powerful snake like currents with none of the navigation equipment that we take for granted today. How they did it back then is amazing. And, if you're a history buff, the description of the geo political scene in Europe prior to the 1st World War is also extremely interesting. Of course, the fact that the German Kaiser is a close relative of Queen Victoria also complicates things. This book is a real gem, an old gem to be sure, but it still shines.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Workerbee

It's okay

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2024

Verified Purchase

There is a lot of repeating and learning of words.

Helpful

Kindle Customer

An Absolutely Classic Mystery

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2010

Verified Purchase

Isn't it great when you stumble upon a great book by accident? This classic mystery is set upon an old boat in the tide-driven wetlands of either or both the North Sea or the Baltic Sea, north of Holland and Germany. I know some more detail-conscious reader will set the geographic record straight. The two passionate amateur sailors and sleuths stumble across the suspicious movements of fellow sailors in the year before the First World War. Beautifully written, with great attention to detail about living on an old boat, docking in little coves or braving the taverns and stores of closed-off villages. It's about using and beating the tides, about reading the weather in the same way you read the faces and voices of your opponents. It's about taking chances and risks and hoping for luck in desperate times.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

jack mahaney

Absorbing mystery

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

This was an absorbing story with plenty of twists and turns. I had to struggle a tiny bit with the nineteenth century upper class slag, but got along ok. There is an amusing typo on page 197 where the word “rough” appears twice. I am confident that the author intended that “ruff” be used. Good yarn, worth the effort, but make sure you download with images so that you’ll have the ‘Map A’ and Map B’ that are frequently referred to.

Helpful

Acceber

A brilliant read for sailors and spy-novel aficionados.

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is said to be the first spy novel ever written. Published in 1903, it is still considered a classic. I found it a fascinating page-turner and a brilliantly-told story. However, if the reader is not somewhat conversant with the basics of sailing and sailors' vocabulary, it probably won't have the impact it would otherwise. The author had intimate, first-hand knowledge of sailing in the area depicted, which requires excellent seamanship because of the extreme weather and tides there. His writing is so good, you can practically smell the salt air. In fact, the author's own life is as extraordinary as this book.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

c m

Frustration leading to skimming

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2009

Verified Purchase

Childers' novel was a real disappointment. After starting to read the original Ian Fleming James Bond novels for Fleming's centennial, my interest in spy novels was piqued and I decided to make a survey of them. I was going to start with The 39 Steps until I came across The Riddle of the Sands. I wasn't expecting a Bond-style thriller, and I came with an open mind, but this was a tedious and underwhelming story with little general historical interest.

Originally published in 1903, the story is a first-person account of a pre-WWI British Foreign Office employee who gets caught up in the discovery of German invasion plans while on a sailing holiday. The book was written as a serious account of events for the expressed purpose of jarring the public into recognition of the German threat.

While the plot sounds like a decent one for a spy novel, and while the reader with an interest in historical fiction might expect to find period interest, most of the book is detailed accounts of sailing, complete with nautical terms and descriptions with little meaning to those not familiar with boats and navigation. I figure the book could easily have been cut down to a half of its length without losing any plot or meaningful descriptive material.

There's not much else to say. The evil villain turns out to be a double agent working for the British, which all but the dimmest reader will suspect from the introduction of his character. Whenever danger seems around the corner, it turns out to be nothing. There is no descriptive material that would be of interest to the antiquarian or historical enthusiast. One reviewer who said "it gives remarkable insights into the culture and attitudes of the period" must have been reading a different book.

I'm not sure who this novel would appeal to, and I suspect that it was chosen as an Oxford classic because the novelist died for the politically correct cause of supporting Irish independence. Yawn.

The best thing about the novel is this edition (Oxford Classics green cover with white portrait), and the introduction by David Trotter provides a nice background on early thrillers and spy stories.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Bryan Dare

No Maps! Wrong Boat!

Reviewed in Canada on April 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

Riddle of the Sands is rightly on many lists of great books and, in particular, great classic spy novels. However, it is also rightly described as “one of the all-time great yachting novels” and one commentator says “I know of no novel more cartographic than The Riddle of the Sands.” It is because of these two key characteristics of the novel, its detailed immersion in yachting and its extensive use of maps and charts, that the “Illustrated” Kindle version of this book is so disappointing.
In spite of the fact that the text refers the reader again and again to the six-odd maps, charts and diagrams which accompanied the original text, modern editors apparently have decided to simply leave them out – and thereby make the novel almost unintelligible without extensive reference to Google Maps or other independent resources. The carelessness of such a decision is mind-boggling.
A second, though less serious, editorial failure is to illustrate this great yachting novel with pictures of the wrong sort of boat. The yacht Dulcibella of the novel was a yawl or ketch, with a second mast near the stern, whereas the boat illustrated is a single-masted sloop. This may be explained by the editors’ use of photos from a 1984 German TV version of the novel, but such a choice merely illustrates the editors’ failure to read or understand the book in the first place.
I recommend this book highly, but I suggest you seek out a version with all the original maps and perhaps even yacht-illustrations which indicate that the editors care about the book they want to sell you.

JB

Tolle Story

Reviewed in Germany on October 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

Soll der erste Spionageroman sein, ist egal, eshandelt vom Segeln an der Deutschen Küste. Tolle Revierbeschreibung. Ideal für Traditionskleinsegler. Interessanter Roman, z.T. mit realen Zusammenhängen. Erskine Childers hat auch gesegelt, wie Jule Verne, die Strecke war z.T. identisch.

One person found this helpful

Translate review to English

Mr Richard John Edkins

A Good Story - And a Potent Warning...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

A most remarkable tale of derring-do that has inspired a film (York, MacCorkindale, Agutter) and countless emulators in its role as the first decent spy-thriller. One of the inspirations for my own book, with its tale of the German Frisian Islands and the channels there, and the encouragement to research Childers's own and ultimately tragic life. First rate writing, with the characters of Carruthers and the frustrated Davies revealed gradually as they survey the area and interact with other characters. A favourite of my grandfather, father, uncle and now myself. The only fly in the ointment is the lack in this Kindle version of the Maps and Charts referred to in the text and which illumine the original book. I recommend it to all and sundry as a thundering good yarn - and grieve for the circumstances that destroyed Robert Erskine Childers when he should have survived.

2 people found this helpful

Graham Shipley

Adventure in an incomparable natural setting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2024

Verified Purchase

Imbued with some predictable attitudes of its age (1902), and somewhat over-written, this keeps its 4th star for the mesmerizing portrayal of an actual seascape-cum-landscape of a kind I never imagined existing. It's a pity the maps are omitted from the Kindle edition, but it's worth following the goings-on using Google Maps, where almost every detail can be verified.

ray y.

good

Reviewed in Canada on October 27, 2017

Verified Purchase

ok

See more reviews

Buy new:

$4.06

Other Sellers on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

The Riddle of the Sands (Dover Thrift Editions) Paperback – May 19, 2011

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Erskine Childers

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new: $4.06

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the author

The Riddle of the Sands (Dover Thrift Editions) Paperback – May 19, 2011

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Erskine Childers

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$4.06