"the game's afoot" was used by Sherlock Holmes but he was quoting from Shakespeare, Henry V Act3  Scene 1. The speech before Harfleur
"I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

"a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" was Sir Winston Churchill describing Russia

Thanks--glad to see other literary types on board.

Much can be learned from literature, and indeed I think for the Deep Universal Eternal Truths (DUETs) literature is at least as important as science.

KIM is a remarkable book, and if both the Russian and American leaders had read all of Kipling, then I doubt that either great power would have blundered into Afghanistan, as both of them did.

Also, IMO, Kipling's famous poem that begins, "East is East and West is West, . . ." is one of the most powerful antiracist statements ever made.

Currently I am rereading all of Joseph Conrad. Ohmigod, nothing is more relevant than "Heart of Darkness" to what is now happening in Nigeria.  

Do not fail to read V.S. Naipaul's "A Bend in the River", a perfect companion novel to "Heart of Darkness".
I love V.S. Naipul's works.

Be sure also to read his classic, "North of South," but then again, you probably already have.

Brilliant guy, and iconoclastic to the max.