The Riddle of the Sands

Robert Erskine Childers was born in London in 1870. His parents both died from tuberculosis when he was a child, and he was brought up at his mother’s family home in Ireland. He attended Trinity College Cambridge, then went into the Civil Service as a House of Commons clerk, pursuing his passion for sailing in his spare time. In 1899 he volunteered for service in the Boer War and wrote a popular account of his experiences, following this up in 1903 with The Riddle of the Sands. A passionate advo