The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service

Front Cover
Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2005 - Fiction - 311 pages
Series Copy
Offering some of the most influential literary myth-makers of the last 150 years, the Oxford Popular Fiction series introduces or reintroduces, bestselling works of American and British fiction that have helped define new styles and genres, and that continue to resonate in popular memory today.
From crime and historical fiction to romance, adventure, and social comedy, these books are ideal for anyone interested in the prototypical, controversial, groundbreaking, and sometimes notorious fiction of which classics are made. Complete with critical introductions, the Oxford Popular Fiction
series is a personal library that lies a the heart of American and British culture.
One of the first great spy novels, The Riddle of the Sands is set during the long suspicious years leading up to the First World War. Bored with his life in London, a young man accepts an invitation to join a friend on a sailing holiday in the Baltic. A vivid exploration of the mysteries of
seamanship, the story builds in excitement as these two young adventurers discover a German plot to invade England.
 

Selected pages

Contents

THE LETTER
1
THE DULCIBELLA
8
DAVIES
21
RETROSPECT
31
WANTED A NORTH WIND
39
SCHLEI FIORD
47
THE MISSING PAGE
55
THE THEORY
69
CLEARING THE AIR
154
IMPERIAL ESCORT
165
THE RUBICON
171
THE LITTLE DRAB BOOK
184
BLINDFOLD TO MEMMERT
195
THE QUARTETTE
211
A CHANGE OF TACTICS
223
FINESSE
236

I SIGN ARTICLES
81
HIS CHANCE
90
THE PATHFINDERS
98
MY INITIATION
107
THE MEANING OF OUR WORK
118
THE FIRST NIGHT IN THE ISLANDS
124
BENSERSIEL
133
COMMANDER VON BŰRNING
140
I DOUBLE BACK
251
THE SEVEN SIELS
263
THE LUCK OF THE STOWAWAY
275
WE ACHIEVE OUR DOUBLE AIM
289
EPILOGUE
298
ENDNOTES
309
SUGGESTED READING
311
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