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The Riddle of the Sands
The Riddle of the Sands
May 14, 2025 4:47 AM

Author:Erskine Childers

The Riddle of the Sands

The first modern spy novel and a must-read for espionage junkies and fans of James Bond and John Le Carré.

When Carruthers receives a letter from his friend Davies suggesting a Baltic sailing trip, the vision of a manned yacht, A1 scenery and excellent duck shooting quickly works its charm. But Carruthers hopes for a holiday are quickly dashed. There has been suspicious German activity along the coast. The Medusa, manned by the sinister Dollman, has already tried to destroy Davies. What are the Germans up to? Nothing less than a plot to invade Britain. And only these two courageous Englishmen can stop them.

Published in 1903, The Riddle of the Sands is considered the first modern spy novel.

Reviews

Unputdownable… a classic British adventure story, influencing both John Buchan and Ken Follett

—— Observer

The Riddle of the Sands remains a fine read, enjoyed by people for whom sailing is a mystery and who, just like one of the books' heroes,cannot tell a mainsheet from a marlinspike

—— Guardian

A ripping yarn, it’s just so exciting

—— Ben Macintyre

If Patricia Cornwall and Martin Amis had a book together it would look just like My Criminal World - a wickedly funny novel that dances on the razor-thin line between entertainment and art, crime and punishment... As funny as all hell and as blood-pumping as any thriller, My Criminal World is a love letter to crime fiction

—— Tony Parsons

Sutton brilliantly lays bare the life of a desperate writer, lifts the lid on the murky world of crime fiction and throws in a damn good mystery to boot

—— Mark Billingham

The master of the modern spy novel returns . . . this is writing of such quality that - as Robert Harris put it - it will be read in one hundred years

—— Daily Mail

A brilliant climax, with sinister deaths, casual torture, wrecked lives and shameful compromises

—— Observer

John le Carré has lost none of his ability in skewering the murkier foibles of the British Establishment. A tale of deception, greed, betrayal and ultimately, revenge . . . it is not until the last few pages that the full three dimensions of the plot are thrillingly revealed

—— Country Life

A writer of towering gifts . . . le Carré is one of the great analysts of the contemporary scene, who has a talent to provoke as well as unsettle

—— Independent

John le Carré takes us back to his favourite scenarios: Whitehall, the secret services, the gentleman's clubs, dodgy bankers, corrupt public schoolboys and gruesome American neo-cons . . . revelling once more in that imaginary world of secrets and lies that is le Carré's gift to us

—— Evening Standard

Tense, twisty, and driven by a melancholy insight into human motivation . . . deeply compelling

—— The Week

John le Carré is as recognisable a writer as Dickens or Austen, with an often-imitated but never rivalled cast of seedy spies, false lovers, public schoolboys struggling with guilt, and charming but immoral leaders of the brutal establishment . . . This is vintage le Carré and highly enjoyable

—— Financial Times

Thrilling, suspenseful . . . Fans will not be disappointed

—— Sunday Express

Utterly convincing characters, a tight plot . . . Wonderful

—— Sunday Mirror

Thrilling

—— Express

Choreographed with unsettling precision

—— Metro

When I was under house arrest I was helped by the books of John le Carré ... they were a journey into the wider world ... These were the journeys that made me feel that I was not really cut off from the rest of humankind

—— Aung San Suu Kyi

Plunges the reader into a modern-day thriller...Dad won't be able to put it down

—— Metro

[It] has all the essential ingredients of his masterpieces: the dilemmas of duty, patriotism and decency

—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , Metro 'Books of the Year'

John Le Carré at his masterful best . . . nobody does it better

—— Ben Macintyre , The Times 'Books of the Year'

Widely hailed as a return to the good old Smiley days . . . le Carré writes with laconic elegance

—— Kate Saunders , The Times 'Books of the Year'
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