The Riddle Of The Sands

De: Erskine Childers

Narrado por: Anton Lesser

Riddle of the Sands is set during the long suspicious years leading up to the First World War and is a classic of spy fiction.©2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Stirring Schoolboy Adventure

Despite my seemingly derogatory title, this is very good and well narrated. Highly recommend! Also recommend the 70s film starring Michael York of the same title.

A 19th Century Classic

By modern standards, this story unfolds very, very slowly. It is realistic and quite believable.

The performance is perfect. Anton Lesser is masterful.

Terrific narrator with excellent writing

It simply moved too slowly to hold my interest. I suspect that someone with sailing experience would find it more engaging. The writing is superior and perhaps I will return to give it another read/listen

A great read and excellent for the WWI centennial

Riddle of the Sands was published in 1903, 11 years before WWI started, but it is redolent with the suspicion between Germany and other countries that circulated at that time and resulted, finally, in the Great War. The Riddle is that our two young spies gradually realize that Germany is planning an invasion of England via the low-water tributaries in the Frisian islands, pulling low-draft troop carriers among the natural channels through the sands . The places named are real and you can follow the plot on Google Earth.

Anton Lesser does a superb reading, and reads with the tones of a young man, which is crucial, because while the plot and action are gripping, the characterization and character development is just as beautifully and humorously written, and this is why it seems to me almost a crime to settle for an abridged version of this classic. You won't regret listening to the original.

Our narrator, Carruthers, is a rising young star in the Foreign Office, and when he reluctantly boards the Dulcibella, he is deeply disappointed that it is not the stylish, elegant yacht with crew that he had dressed and packed for. He is a prig, and no sailor, and both faults get well and truly reformed during this story as he grows up, learns to sail, and finds his place in the world -- because however "at sea" he may feel in a boat, Carruthers has talent and courage as a spy on land that make the reader feel he would be wasted in the Foreign Office.

Of course there is a beautiful girl. And a dubious father. And Germans, nice and otherwise, whose accents Lesser performs convincingly. Best of all, there is a VIP who comes to inspect how well the invasion plans are working out. This is "he who insists" on coming.


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"He who insists" is the Kaiser. Kaiser Wilhelm II, ruler of Germany, avid yachtsman, committed to building up Germany's navy. The idea that Germany might invade England is hardly remarkable: most wars involve the aggressing Continental power considering it very carefully, or actually doing it. The last ones were Napoleon and Hitler, both of whom made elaborate plans for invasion, but never actually carried them out. Eleven years after this book came out, Germany used its navy to try to starve England out via U-Boots sinking ships carrying imports, rather than invasion. But in the meanwhile this book, Riddle of the Sands, resulted in some large changes in the British navy basing, because in fact, the plan was plausible.

The most delightful moment in the book, to me, is when Carruthers, needing a quick exit from his hiding place, not only wrecks the Kaiser's boat, but also gets him to help cast off the dinghy he's in so he can row away. He gives brusque orders in the confusion of running the boat aground, and as a yachtsman used to quick hands-on sailing, the Kaiser obeys him!

There is a Michael York movie of this book which is excellent and fairly close to the original.

Excellent Anglo-German Naval Arms Race Spy Yarn

Set at the dawn of the 20th century, a pair of amateur British spies on a yacht uncover a German invasion plan based in the Friesian coast. The novel influenced British naval planning in the years before WWI.

Story and narration are both excellent. It makes me want to sail the Friesian coast, pipe in hand, and visit the small islands and harbors just as the author did over a century ago.