Public reader discussion about The Riddle of the Sands in the WeRead Catalog by Erskine Childers.
By quillexpunger1979
This is honestly my all-time favorite book. Does anyone have recommendations for other action-packed stuff with vengeance/revenge and that whole justice/redemption/loyalty vibe? I’m down for any era too—older is even better. Also, I’m not really into fantasy, if that helps. Thanks!
By ash_island
I’ve heard this is kind of what kicked off the spy genre, so I’m maybe interested. But I’m not sure what the writing style is like—like is it easy to get through or more of a slog? Also, does it lean really depressing/negative overall? I don’t mind some negative bits, but I don’t really like books that are mostly downer. Is it actually any good? I ask because I have dyslexia, so I read pretty slowly, and finishing a book feels like a big time commitment, so I like to check first.
By windowOrange
I’m not totally sure if I’d call it perfect, but I really liked Spirited Away.
By shelfotter
I’ve probably read Ender’s Game like 20+ times, but I just grabbed it on Google Play and wow… it looks like it went full racist. Like Alai’s saying all that “slant-eyed” / “butt-wiggler” stuff, and then Ender drops some really disgusting “we can’t all be…” line with the N-word. After that there were a couple more really racist remarks too. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it like this—did Google Play use an uncensored copy, or is someone messing with the text?
By VolumeBrush
Erskine Childers’ life feels like it should’ve been an epic film—he served in both the Boer War and World War I, got involved in smuggling weapons into Ireland before the Easter Rising, and then later helped work on the Anglo-Irish treaty. And then he was controversially executed in 1922 during the Civil War. His son, Erskine Hamilton Childers, also did pretty big things—he was elected President of Ireland in 1973, but he only made it one year in office and died at 68.
By HardcoverVolume74
Hey everyone, welcome back to Theory Thursdays—weekly posts where we dig into historical theory stuff. This time we’re keeping moderation a lot looser since we want a broad conversation about both history and how we think about it. For the first one, we started by getting into the basic question of what “history” even means. After that we talked about people like Herodotus (you know, the one sometimes called the “father of history” and also the “father of lies”), plus a few other ancient historians, then Edward Gibbon, and later Leopold von Ranke and his whole idea about history trying to show what really happened. More recently we got into big issues like objectivity and then the archive—basically how historians use sources and what’s sitting in those collections. We also detoured a bit when someone asked a really good question about teleology, so we went down that path. And last week was about non-traditional sources—archaeology, oral history, genetics, and other kinds of data. So this week feels like a good time to start asking how different types of sources get used in different areas of history. And why not start with military history—so if you’re into that, I’m curious what you think: - How far back does military history go? When do you start seeing early writers who are basically doing what we’d call military history today, and how did it change over time? - What primary sources do you usually work with, and where do the big gaps show up? How do you deal with that? - What kinds of bias or objectivity issues come up in military history? - And probably the biggest one: what are the “big questions” in military history? What debates keep sticking around, even when they never really get fully solved? And did those questions shift over time?
By cosmiccat4595
Lately I’ve been really into spy novels, and I keep noticing how much they all seem to follow the same patterns. It feels like there are basically three “types” I run into: - Old-school Cold War stuff: Western spy vs. Soviet spy. Usually the main character has this super controlled, smooth vibe and a big duty thing going on. A lot of these go hard on undercover work. They can be really classy and morally thoughtful, but sometimes the politics go over my head. (Le Carré vibes.) - Post–Cold War action/military mode: way more nonstop and usually very centered on the armed forces. Politics kind of gets sidestepped—like no real countries are “the bad guys” on paper, so it turns into vague unstable places or “bad actors.” The heroes are the grizzled, don’t-mess-with-me military type, with a cynical sense of humor if there is one. (Jack Reacher, Gabriel Allon, Bourne-ish.) - The “this is being played wrong / the spy part isn’t really what you think” books: I know that sounds broad, but it’s because I feel like too few books actually fit cleanly anywhere else. It might be Cold War or post–Cold War, but the key is the main character is either not a spy, or they’re not hanging around doing the usual intel-agency games most of the time. They’re an outsider or a bystander for a chunk of the story, and it changes how everything lands. (Stuff like Our Man in Havana / Anonymous Sources, and Chris Pavone’s books.) I like pieces of all of them, but I especially gravitate toward that third group. The problem is, I’m finding it hard to track down books that *aren’t* basically categories 1 or 2. This isn’t me asking for suggestions though. I’m more curious what the die-hard fans think. Like—if you had to split spy novels into sub-genres, what would your categories be? And which kind do you keep returning to, and why? Also, how do you even find ways around the same formulas? Or do you just keep discovering new angles somehow? I’m probably still a total newbie, so if I’m way off base, tell me—I’m genuinely trying to learn the genre better.
By ThunderStrange
I’m in a book club that has pretty strict rules, so I end up reading stuff I wouldn’t normally pick up. Sometimes I look at the cover and think, “oh no, this is gonna be a rough one”… and then I’m shocked in a good way. Other times it goes the opposite direction too. So now I’m curious—does anyone else have a book club where you’re mostly stuck with books everyone’s already hyped about, and you really aren’t interested… but then you end up loving them anyway? Do you have any examples?
By ivory-lynx67
Pretty fun swashbuckly spy stuff with lots of risky action. It kind of feels in the same lane as *The Scarlet Pimpernel*, *The Lies of Locke Lamora*, and the *Captain Alatriste* books—at least vibe-wise. If anyone’s got more like that, I’d really love some recs.
By orange2001
Before people started associating “Germany” with being militaristic, no-fun, and super efficient, it was really Prussia that had that reputation. There wasn’t a Germany yet, so Prussia was the one building a standing army and pushing expansion with both diplomacy and fighting. Over time it basically got folded into the idea of a unified Germany, long before WWI. Edit: also, the second time I wrote “militaristic” was my bad—I meant “efficient.”