The Riddle of the Sands
Smith, Elder & Co., 1903.
First edition. Original black cloth with enamel lettering to the spine and yacht vignette to the upper cover. Map of the North Sea facing the title page as called for. A fine copy with very slight flaking to some of the spine lettering and the remains of a gift inscription to the front endpaper, but is crisp and bright and very clean internally. An exceptional copy of a book rarely encountered in nice condition.
The author's only novel, and the first modern spy novel. Set before the First World War the novel pits two amateur sailors-cum-sleuths against the secret forces of Germany. Their navigational skills prove equally as important as their powers of deduction in uncovering a plot which threatens national security.
Apparently Childers, himself an accomplished yachtsman, wrote the novel as a wake up call to the British government to look to their North Sea defences, and in due course a North Sea port for the Royal Navy, Rosyth, was constructed in response to this book.
"Not only a good spy story but also one of the finest tales about small-sailing craft ever written" (Eric Ambler)
Haycraft Queen Cornerstone
Stock ID: 36194
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