Author Biography
About the Author Robert Erskine Childers (June 25, 1870-November 24, 1922) was born in Mayfair London, the son of British Orientalist Robert Ceasar Childers. When his father died, he went to live with his mother's family in Annamoe, County Wicklow, Ireland. He was schooled at Haileybury College and received his degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. Forced by an injury to give up sports like rugby he took to rowing and sailing. His summer yachting adventures in the Frisian Islands served as the background for his novel The Riddle of the Sands. He served as an artilleryman in the Boer War and as a reserve naval officer during World War I. He also became involved in Irish politics and the quest for Irish home rule. When it was decided that the Irish Free State would not include the northern counties he joined the Republican cause. This lead to his eventual arrest and execution on the charge of possessing an illegal weapon, a pistol given him by Michael Collins. His son Erskine Hamilton Childers became the fourth president of the Irish Republic.
