Erskine Childers fathered the modern genre of spy adventures. Unlike other spy novelists, however, Childers himself led a life involving spying, gun-running, and conspiracy, and a constant search for adventure and danger, which led in the end to his execution by firing squad in Ireland in 1923. Dangerous Waters: The Life and Death of Erskine Childers tells the extraordinary story of a brilliant and highly talented eccentric, whose fervent support of Irish nationalism, though foddor for his novels, also led to his untimely death.