By Chris Waugh /
20. "The Riddle Of The Sands: A Record Of Secret Service" (1903) - Erskine Childers
An Irish nationalist who was executed in 1922 after smuggling guns to Ireland for British forces in his sailing yacht "Asgard" in the early-20th Century, Robert Erskine Childers had the perfect past to be able to write a spy novel. His 1903 offering "The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service" was extremely popular in the lead-up to the Great War, with protagonist Arthur Davies accompanied by Charles Carruthers from the foreign office as they seek to find evidence proving Germany is soon going to invade England, they set sail off the Frisian Coast in his yacht "Dulcibella". Regarded as one of the spy books that influenced the style of writing used by authors such as Ian Fleming and John le Carré later in the century, this book offers brilliant characterisation and captures the intrigue of suspicion and espionage that precede wars. In 1979 it was made into a film starring Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale - which, although decent, failed to thrill in quite the same way the book did.