The Riddle: Illuminating the Story Behind the Riddle of the Sands

by Maldwin Drummond

First published in 1903, The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers, is one of the earliest examples of a spy novel in English, and it has been extremely influential on the genre since. It is also one of the best-known tales of yacht fighting. This unusual combination has always intrigued Maldwin Drummond, who explores in The Riddle the book’s two main themes: the life of the Victorian small boat sailor and the politics of defense prior to World War I.
 
In this book, Drummond includes details of Childers's own sailing experiences and offers a detailed account of the reception of the book in official circles at the time. Drummond does her own detective work to highlight Childers’s urgent message that Germany was preparing to invade England and that the British were not aware of any such plan. This new edition of the definitive study of the writing of The Riddle of the Sands is updated here with beautiful illustrations by Martin Mackrill.
 
 

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Derek Nudd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is clearly a labour of love by someone who knows the sea and has followed Childers' wake. Getting into the meat of it, the author offers an extended summary of the story of The Riddle of the Sands then Childers' own analogous tour in 1897. Here he sometimes blends the movements of Childers' own Vixen with the fictional Dulcibella. After this he looks at Childers' development as an author and the launch of the book by which he is known.
Here things really get interesting. Childers was not the first to raise an invasion scare but he did so persuasively, presenting his story as though it were fact and at a moment when the main fear of attack was pivoting from France to Germany. Drummond ably places the book's impact in the political and military context of the day and draws out its possible effect on events.
There is also an interesting insight into Childers' later life. I had known, for example, that that he embraced the cause of Irish republicanism and was executed by the Free State but not that he served in coastal motor boats during WW1 - a job requiring excellent seamanship as well as almost insane courage.
All in all, a comprehensively researched and valuable addition to our understanding of a time when the world was slithering toward the great lights-out.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skimmed most of this. It’s like trying to get a drink out of a fire hose: WAY too much information and too many details. It also, disappointingly, leaves several questions unanswered.

[Paul Reading · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is amazingly well researched I have no idea how the author managed to collate so much detail. However I can’t help but say the book is dull. There is so much information that the account takes forever to recount the story. Much of the information is very interesting it is just too detailed and long winded.

However if you are an academic and are interested in the political situation leading up to the First World War this has some useful information.