THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS

This seminal British thriller, the only novel by Erskine Childers (1870-1922), tells of two amateur spies, their nautical observations of seven sandy islands off the German coast, and their growing fears about England's susceptibility to invasion. Though the 1903 text is dotted at times with "by Jove"-like Briticisms, Anton Lesser makes these locutions seem more dashing and dramatic than dated and strange. He reads with urgency and intensity; this confidential seriousness adds a pleasing touch to the quaint undertones of Childers's writing. (The packaging includes a reproduction of two maps from the original edition of the novel.) G.H. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]