Robert Erskine Childers commonly known as Erskine Childers was the author of the influential novel The Riddle of the Sands and an Irish nationalist who smuggled guns to Ireland in his sailing yacht Asgard.

Childers’ first book In the Ranks of the C. I. V. is an account of his experiences in the Boer War. Childers originally he wrote it without intending to publish the book.

The Riddle of the Sands is Childers most famous book. The book enjoyed immense popularity in the years before World War I, and is an early example of the spy novel. The Observer included the book on its list of "The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time".

Childers’ last major book was The Framework of Home Rule written as a prospective Liberal Party candidate for Parliament.