Childers, Erskine

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers is a novel published in 1903 that belongs to military fiction or “invasion novels.” It predicts pre-First-World-War threats of German invasion of the British Isles. The pertinence of Childers’s ideas and details, which have been based on his own sailing...

Described by Ken Follett as "the first modern thriller", The Riddle of the Sands is the best-known sailing narrative and a true classic. It was recently ranked 37th in The Observer's list of the 100 Greatest Novels of the past 300 years. Winston Churchill even credited it for the Admiralty's deci...

When Carruthers receives a letter from his friend Davies suggesting a Baltic sailing trip, the vision of a manned yacht quickly works its charm. The reality couldn't be more different. If the boat is underwhelming, Davies's ambition for their sailing trip is anything but. There has been suspiciou...