While on a sailing trip in the Baltic Sea, two young adventurers-turned-spies uncover a secret German plot to invade England. Written by Childers&#8212;who served in the Royal Navy during World War I&#8212;as a wake-up call to the British government to attend to its North Sea defenses, <i>The Riddle of the Sands</i> accomplished that task and has been considered a classic of espionage literature ever since, praised as much for its nautical action as for its suspenseful spycraft.