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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
She spoke in a beautiful, rich voice, with the most heart-broken thrill in it, but I could not conceal from myself that she appeared to be one of the most robust persons that I had ever seen, and I was surprised to notice that she shot arch little questioning glances at me, as if the admiration even of so insignificant a person were of some interest to her. My father, in his blunt, sailor fashion, tried to stammer out some commonplace condolence, but her eyes swept past his rude, weather-beaten face to ask and reask what effect she had made upon me. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Download Description
My heart was bitter against Cousin Edie as I stood looking into her room. To think that for the sake of a newcomer she could leave us all without one kindly word, or as much as a hand-shake. And he, too! I had been afraid of what would happen when Jim met him; but now there seemed to be something cowardly in this avoidance of him. I was angry and hurt and sore, and I went out into the open without a word to my father, and climbed up on to the moors to cool my flushed face. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

What's old is new again
An excellent read! Published in 1898 this novel tells the story of a small group of western tourists on holiday in northern africa. Taken hostage by a nomadic tribe of arab muslims, these westerners are faced with the stark choice of conversion to Islam or death. A facinating commentary on the cultural divide between western Christianity and eastern Islam with an insightful dialouge around the "white man's burden" as only the English could tell it.

The burden of the white man
This is a very significant book about the general opinons of Western people about middle eastern-arabs at the end of 19th century. The tale is about how tourists on a steamer have been taken hostage by a gang of arabs, and how "the heroic" british army saved them. What is behind the tale is what has been codified by kipling:"the burden of the white man". The superior civilized Anglo saxons and their mission toward uncivilised barabarians. The depiction of natives in mild racists words is what, unfortunately, has not changed so much in western opinions (even if hidden behind layers of politically correct). Very instructive for whoever is interested in the root of racisms, as described by E. Said in "orientalism". A very funny part of the book isthe contrast between the arrogant french tourist who at the begining criticizes the wise brits, but by the end is grateful and convinced. Replace brits with americans, and the book could have been written in 2001. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Exuberant Victorian
Some listings of biographical archives appear at the end of the book.Charles Doyle, the father, was by profession an architect.Charles Doyle liked fishing. Arthur was educated by the Jesuits at Stonyhurst.At age 15 he visited relatives in London and was a rabid sight-seer.He studied in Germany for one year.He went to medicalschool at the University of Edinburgh, living at home.It was 1876 when he began.

At holiday on the Isle of Arran in 1877 he met Dr. Joseph Bell.Bell used his powers of deduction to impress the students.Conan Doyle took his medical degree in 1881 and signed on to be a ship's physician on a voyage to the Gold Coast, the west coast of Africa.Arthur's London relatives were prepared to do him favors but they believed in the teachings of the Catholic Church and he did not.He decided to open a practice in Portsmouth.His mother and aunt supplied him with furniture.

In 1883 one of Arthur's stories was accepted by CORNHILL MAGAZINE.He joined the literary and scientific society.A commission from the Gresham Life Insurance Company helped his income.The more he saw of medical practice, the more he turned to writing.He learned that he could write fiction that readers would take for absolute truth.He worked by fits and starts.He married a Miss Hawkins.Her mother lived with the couple.Married life stimulated his mental powers.

A STUDY IN SCARLET as written in 1886.He sold the copyright for twenty five pounds.His favorite writers were Stevenson and Meredith.The book of his he prized was THE WHITE COMPANY.He put a vast amount of research into it.THE SIGN OF FOUR appeared in 1896.Two Holmes series were brought out in 1891 and 1892.The stories ran in THE STRAND MAGAZINE.

He moved to Davos, Switzerland for the sake of his wife's health.Conan Doyle introduced skiing as a sport in Switzerland.On an American visit he saw Kipling in Vermont.He met Jean Leckie in 1897 and fell wildly in love.He fought the devil for ten years.He steadied himself by reading Renan.In a new study at his house called Undershaw he determined to bring back Sherlock Holmes.He wrote a play and sent it to Beerbohm Tree.William Gilette, an American, was interested in playing the part.The actor infected Conan Doyle with his own enthusiasm.He spent about five months in South Africa at the time of the Boer War manning a hospital dealing with a fever epidemic.He received a knighthood.

In 1907 he married Jean Leckie.After World War I and the loss of his oldest son Conan Doyle pursued the cause of Spritiualism.Sherlock Holmes was revived again in HIS LAST BOW. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in his autobiography: "I have had a life which, for variety and romance, could, I think, hardly be exceeded." In the years since his death, Doyle has been almost uniquely identified with his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes, who remains among the world's most identifiable figures, fictional or real. Doyle was much more than the author of the Holmes stories, but his very success with the series has clouded nearly every attempt to address his life. Martin Booth's The Doctor and the Detective redresses the balance. It's the first full-fledged biography of Doyle, the first one not distorted by the lens of his Holmes stories. Through Doyle, it offers an entertaining vision of the Victorian values that underlie the stories, and it also illuminates the "variety and romance" of the author's life: as a military doctor, a war correspondent, a spiritualist, a cricket player, and a worker for social justice.

Booth begins with Doyle's grandfather, political cartoonist John Doyle, whom he sees as the pivotal fount of the family's artistic genius. He quickly moves through a description of Doyle's Jesuit schooling and his early talent for spinning stories. Later chapters examine his discovery of the short story through reading Edgar Allan Poe, his struggles and successes as his family's first medical doctor, and his eventual recognition of the need for a new kind of fiction with "a scientific detective, who solved cases on his own merits and not through the folly of the criminal." But, as Booth shows, the publication of A Study in Scarlet in November 1887 was not the defining event of Doyle's life. As the novella emerged and developed a small following, he entered politics and championed the Irish Liberal Unionist cause. That same year he began experimenting with telepathy and published his first letter in the journal of the London Spiritualistic Alliance. This latter interest would do as much as--if not more than--Holmes did to shape the rest of Doyle's rich life.

Doyle's papers, briefly available to scholars, were subsequently withdrawn. Studies based on those papers have been tightly controlled by the Doyle estate, so much of the most private material has never seen print. Despite that obstacle, Booth has done an excellent job of sifting through all of the public information about the author, his family, and his associates to assemble a highly readable, often entertaining narrative. What emerges is a portrait of a powerful man who helped define the character of popular literature in the 20th century. Booth's book will likely remain the definitive biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle until the author's papers are released in their entirety. --Patrick O'KelleyBook Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Name Association
This book explains the derivation of the name "Sherlock Holmes" on pages 107-8. The name "John Watson" was used by John H. Surratt for his Canadian passport; this was used to flee the country after the Lincoln assassination. His mother Mary was hanged for her involvement with John Wilkes Booth. Was this just a coincidence?

Nicely Ties Together All Of The Strands
This is a solid and very readable biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All of the elements are here: growing up poor in Edinburgh, with a disillusioned, distant and alcoholic father and a strong and loving mother; going to medical school and getting started in a medical practice; his growing success as a writer of short fiction and historical novels; his first marriage, to a woman who developed tuberculosis early on and who died in middle age; Conan Doyle's falling in love, while still married to his first wife, with Jean Leckie, the woman who became his second wife (the relationship wasn't sexual until Conan Doyle's first wife died and he had married Jean); his fascination with, and public enthusiasm for, spiritualism. Some of the information presented is well-known, such as the interest in spiritualism and Conan Doyle's growing tired very early on with writing the Sherlock Holmes stories. But I'm guessing that, unless you are a rabid Sherlockian who has read tons of material on the creation and his creator, you will find much of the information the author presents to be interesting and fresh. Mr. Booth shows the adventurous side of Conan Doyle- his early hitch on a whaling ship and another trip, as a medical officer, on board a merchant ship which travelled down the western coast of Africa. We learn about the difficulties involved for a young doctor in setting up a medical practice. You had to spend money to make money, as the practice had to look like it was flourishing even though it was just getting started. With his limited funds, Conan Doyle did a nice job of furnishing his consulation room. He had to hang up a curtain, however, so patients couldn't see into the rest of the house- which was pretty much devoid of any furniture or decoration. We learn that Conan Doyle was physically fit and an avid athlete- playing cricket, rugby, soccer, golf, etc. Mr. Booth tells us of Conan Doyle's meetings with other writers, such as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and P.G. Wodehouse. While not a fan of Wilde's unorthodox lifestyle, Conan Doyle admired the man's intellect and work, and was charmed by his personality. (Both men were wined and dined in August 1889 by the editor of "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine," and agreed to write something for the magazine. Conan Doyle came up with "The Sign Of Four" and Wilde's entry was "The Picture Of Dorian Gray.") Mr. Booth sprinkles abundant examples of Conan Doyle's humor and with throughout the book- regarding the heat along the African coast,Conan Doyle remarked "(It was) hot enough to render the weight of a napkin upon your knee at dinner time utterly unbearable."; and on hitting upon Reichenbach Falls as the place to kill off his famous creation, Conan Doyle wrote "(It was) a terrible place, and one that I thought would make a worthy tomb for poor Sherlock, even if I buried my banking account along with him." Mr. Booth is very good at describing Conan Doyle's contradictions and character flaws: he was stubborn and would never admit he was in error about anything; he believed the white race to be superior to other races; he wanted to liberalize divorce laws to make it easier for women to obtain divorces, but he was vehemently against women being allowed to vote; he was extremely curious and adventurous- he embraced the newfangled motorcars when they first appeared and made an ascent in a balloon- but was very conservative in his attitude towards women ( he felt their job was to maintain the home and that they needed to be "protected") and he was horrified by any kind of modern art. Conan Doyle was very generous with his time and money. Throughout his life he wrote many letters and articles in support of causes he thought were right and on behalf of people he felt had been wronged, plus he put his bankbook where his mouth was. Many people know that Conan Doyle grew tired of writing the Holmes stories and had to have a lot of cash waved in front of his nose to convince him to bring the character back. What I didn't know, and which Mr. Booth explains, is that Conan Doyle was a prolific writer of short stories (horror, fantasy and science fiction) and historical novels. He wanted to be remembered for his historical novels- he did a lot of research and worked hard to make those books realistic. He gradually had to face the fact that posterity was going to remember him for Sherlock Holmes. (The money helped. It gave him a comfortable living and enabled him to support spiritualism and all of the other causes.) With all of the above going for it, you might wonder why I'm giving the book 4 stars rather than 5. There are 2 reasons. Although the style is fine and certainly not boring, things seem a bit hurried. An awful lot of material is crammed into 350 pages. And although we get a very good picture of Conan Doyle, the book is a bit weak on his relationships. We don't get to see much interaction with his spouses, children, friends, and colleagues. Still, this is a very good book about a man who was charismatic, energetic, funny and very interesting.

"He could be more humble, but there's no police like Holmes"
This biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tells that he was far more than the creator of "Sherlock Holmes". He was trained as an MD, and started writing to supplement his income. His literary skills brought him great wealth and fame. He had enormous self-confidence, the courage of his convictions, and was never afraid of controversy. He vigorously campaigned on behalf of prisoners wrongly convicted. This book is well worth reading about this paradoxical and versatile man.

His experiences in the Boer War showed him the British Army was antiquated and in need of immediate and drastic reform. The cavalry was outdated; artillery should be diversified and camouflaged; rifle drill was more important than parade drill. Officers should not wear distinctive uniforms, and should end their luxorious habits that made it hard for a poor man to accept a commission (p.237). He advocated a civilian military reserve of well-trained citizens, and nationwide rifle clubs. By 1906 there was a national federation of rifle clubs. The British won the Boer War thru a scorched earth policy, and placing Boer women and children in concentration camps. ACD defended the British in a pamphlet that was widely distributed. He was later made a knight bachelor and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Surrey (p.241).

ACD introduced Norwegian skiing to Switzerland in 1894 (p.172), memorialized in a plaque in Davos. When he visited America he just missed meeting Oliver Wendell Holmes, who he admired (p.200). He introduced golf to New England (p.201).

In 1886 he got the idea of writing about a detective who would solve cases by his scientific methods, and not by the folly of the criminal. He was inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe and Emile Gaboriau, and the vast number of murders and crimes reported in the national press. Page 107 discusses the possible origins of the names of his heroes. "Sherlock" is Old Norse for "fair-haired". Page 190 discusses the possible models for Moriarity. "Vintage Victorian Murders" by Gerald Sparrow (p.40) tells of a Sayers, the barrister who ran the London underworld for twenty years; his profession gave him the world's most wonderful cover.

ACD was raised as a Roman Catholic and educated in a Jesuit school. He later became an agnostic, then a believer in Spiritualism. G.K. Chesterton once remarked that a man who believes in nothing could wind up believing in everything.

A victorian success story
I have been fascinated by this well written biography of A. Conan Doyle. The account of his difficult childhood and poverty reminds me of Charles Dickens life. However,he was helped to get a formal education and became a successful doctor. Doyle's father was an alcoholic who ended his days in an asylum. It seems that Doyle inherited some of his father's creative ability. Doyle was a man of wide interests-unfortunately we only know him for Sherlock Holmes. His historical novel, the White Company,was very popular. This is an impresssive account of an unusual man, who rose from a disadvantaged childhood to become one of England's most popular authors.

A victorian success story
I have been fascinated by this well written biography of A. Conan Doyle. The account of his difficult childhood and poverty reminds me of Charles Dickens life. However,he was helped to get a formal education and became a successful doctor. Doyle's father was an alcoholic who ended his days in an asylum. It seems that Doyle inherited some of his father's creative ability. Doyle was a man of wide interests-unfortunately we only know him for Sherlock Holmes. His historical novel, the White Company,was very popular. This is an impresssive account of an unusual man, who rose from a disadvantaged childhood to become one of England's most popular authors. ... Read more

Amazon.com
It might come as no surprise that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, after creating the first world-renowned fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, started to believe that he could solve real-life crimes. What is surprising is that Doyle was sometimes successful. While the muscular, mustachioed author and his thin, hawk-nosed character would never have been mistaken for one another, they did share an abhorrence for injustice. And Doyle's association as a student with a medical professor named Joseph Bell--who, through close observation, could deduce extraordinary amounts of information from his patients--gave him both a model for the brilliant Holmes and an appreciation for careful forensic methodology.

The True Crime Files of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle focuses on a couple of curious British cases, both involving men Doyle believed were innocent. The first, which drew Doyle's attention in 1906, involved a shy half-British, half-Indian lawyer named George Edalji, who'd allegedly penned threatening letters and mutilated animals. Police were dead set on Edalji's guilt, though the mutilations continued even after their suspect was jailed. The second case examined here--that of Oscar Slater, a German Jew and gambling-den operator convicted of bludgeoning an 82-year-old woman in 1908--excited Doyle's curiosity because of inconsistencies in the prosecution case and a general sense that Slater was framed.

Editor Stephen Hines has compiled Doyle's passionate writings about these criminal probes as well as myriad missives to the press and other background material. This accumulation of arcana will delight passionate Doyle fans, though it's probably too much for the average reader, who may be satisfied with Steven Womack's introductory synopsis. --J. Kingston Pierce Book Description
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the legendary author of the Sherlock Holmes novels, didn't just dwell in the imaginary world of fictional crimes. He also got involved with two real-life criminal cases-and wrote about them.

Now, "The Case of George Ernest Thompson Edalji" and "The Case of Oscar Slater" are presented in their entirety as originally written, and collected here for the first time in one volume, for true crime readers, legal-thriller fans, history buffs-and all the Sherlock Holmes fans who want to know more about the mind behind their favorite literary detective. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Utterly Engrossing True Crime Stories of Classic Author...
I loved the investigative work of Arthur Conan Doyle in his snippets from actual cases of his day and generation. Once you start reading this fascinating book you will not be able to put it down. It beats anything from modern true crime (which I normally enjoy) because it has the historical significance and an almost otherworldly feel to it. Great book!

A 'must' for any avid Doyle reader
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was not only a writer: he was a scientist, physician, political activist and an amateur detective himself. Two actual criminal cases same to his attention and inspired him to become involved: these two cases are documented in the True Crime Files Of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the first time and will represent a 'must' for any avid Doyle reader surprised to find something new.

Real Crime Investigations !
In 1903, there occurred an outbreak of animal maiming; farm animals were found horribly mutilated and left to die.Obviously a sick hand was at work. George Edalji, a 30-year-old solicitor became the suspect of authorities.At best George can be describes as a shy, anxious and physically quite frail, not exactly the hardened criminal type.On the evening of the grave event George returned home from work to take a short stroll before dinner, that night in the field less than a mile from his home, someone disemboweled a pony and left it to die.The police under pressure to apprehend the culprit arrested George and charged him with the crime. Conan Doyle on looking at the evidence decided a grave miscarriage of justice had occurred. Conan went out on a campaign to set the record straight and in doing so staked his reputation on the innocence of Edalji; condemned to seven years penal servitude by a country magistrate.

Oscar Slater a pimp, hustler and a draft dodging German, had abandoned his wife and ran away with his mistress. On the eve of December as Oscar was planning to migrate to America, a few blocks away Marion Gilchrist was murdered by an intruder after he jewels. The case against Slater was circumstantial at best. Oscar was found guilty for the crime and sentenced; despite mountain evidence proving his innocence. In this case Oscar began a letter campaign and appealed to judges to re-open the case and correct the wrongs done.

In both the cases Conan Doyle has shown his immense observation and deduction techniques to illustrate the grave injustice done.

Detective in Action
I believe this book is more than a book just for Sherlock Holmes fans or Conan Doyle fans.It is for anyone who wants to match his or her wits against the Great Detective himself, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.The authors or editors of this book have taken articles, letters to the editor, trial transcripts, and even handwriting samples and reproduced them from the pages of the Daily Telegraph of London, a paper that is still going strong today.They can match wits with Conan Doyle as he tries to solve the mystery of George Edalji.In a similar fashion they can follow along with the reasoning of Sir Arthur as he probes the case of Oscar Slater, a German-born jew convicted of jewel theft and murder in Glasgow.This is a book that lets anyone interested in mysteries, particularly true ones, be the judge of whether the men were innocent or guity as charged.

Sleuthing On Real Cases in Print!
Truth is always stranger than fiction.In this interesting book, we see the messiness of real cases and the potential for miscarriages of justice.What's a intrepid author of detective stories to do but dive right in!

This book will be most appealing to those who want to see how a writer of detective fiction could do with really solving cases.If you prefer the neatness of fiction, you will probably not enjoy this book.

The book begins with a brief biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.At the end of the biography is a brief overview of the two real-life crime cases in which he became involved after the fact in trying to help people he viewed as innocent.

In the first case, that of George Ernest Thompson Edalji, a young solicitor of exemplary character is accused and convicted of mutilating a horse.The man had long been the object of accusatory letters to the police.The motive seems to have been prejudice against a family of Indian descentWhile Mr. Edalji was in prison, Sir Arthur began a newspaper campaign to free Mr. Edalji.In the course of trying to free Mr. Edalji, Sir Arthur makes lots of mistakes that delay the progress of the public protest.Pretending to know more about optics than he did, Doyle created much confusion that initially made some think the worse of Mr. Edalji.Gradually, the right evidence emerged.One of the most fascinating parts of the case is the public challenge that Sir Arthur made to the conclusions of a handwriting "expert."Unlike fictional stories, there are loose ends that will never be resolved.That makes thinking about the case all that much more interesting.

Most of the book is made up of this case.The material includes the letters by Sir Arthur to the newspapers, official reports, letters to the editors by those who support and oppose Sir Arthur's attempts, expert commentaries, and evaluations by other media of the case.Mr. Edalji was released from imprisonment after 3 years, but given no pardon.Sir Arthur kept on.Eventually, a commission was established that found Mr. Edalji deserved a pardon.

Along the way, you will find many humorous circumstances.The police appear to have fabricated evidence.The police also suspected that Mr. Edalji might molest an animal and had him under surveillance.Their case depended on Mr. Edalji having sneaked past four policemen from a locked room in which he slept with his light-sleeping father, the vicar.Mr. Edalji was so nearsighted that he could probably not have even found the animal in the dark.

The second case concerns Oscar Slater, a "blackguard" who was German Jew by origin.Based on questionable eyewitness testimony, Mr. Slater was brought back from New York to stand trial for beating an elderly woman to death to get her diamond brooch.The closest connection that Mr. Slater had was that he had pawned a different diamond brooch of similar value belonging to his live-in lady friend at about the same time.Mr. Slater spent 18 years in jail before being released.He eventually got a pardon and some recompense for the error.Mr. Slater refused to repay Sir Arthur for the sums expended on his behalf.So much for gratitude!

As in the earlier case, the police seem to have been involved in some wrong-doing to protect a prominent person from being accused.One detective had his career ruined in the process of persevering.Prejudice against the foreigner also played a role.There is also some suggestion that the police didn't want to arrest Slater, but wanted to make it look like they had found the guilty party.He may have surprised them by voluntarily coming back for trial.

Sir Arthur had learned his lesson.He was much more careful in the way that he conducted his defense, and made many fewer errors.He also knew that he could not rely on public opinion to support someone who was not a very desirable character.

These two cases certainly helped Sir Arthur rise in my esteem.

I wonder what would happen now if prominent mystery writers tried to help free "innocents" who have been convicted.Who would be best at it?

Speak out for truth and justice . . . always!

... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

quality
I believe that the Dancing Men is one of the best of Sherlock Holmes. It shows the deductive power of a detective to break a secret code with very little information.
Excellent book. Strongly recommended.

Genius
In my 16 years of existence, I have read the complete Sherlock Holmes 4 times, yet they still continue to amaze me. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a genius, and it shows through his whole series. This book combines4 of themany great mysteries that make the Holmes legend live on. Definitely worthmuch more than the 80 cents!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's puzzles are engrossing.
I have read the Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Dancing Men and Other Sherlock Holmes Stories and in all his stories he reveals that marvelous skill of deduction through keen observation. SirArthur Conan Doyle is showing us through his writing how much informationyou can get about a person, place or thing just by observing it.I wasamazed as to how he was able to discipher the code of the dancing men.Before he reveals the answer you should try to figure it out because it ispossible. ... Read more

Book Description
Afterword by Peter Glassman. Young Alleyne Edricson journeys to France in 1366 to join the White Company, a bold band of archers, and is swept into a series of exciting adventures. Written by the creator of Sherlock Holmes and illustrated by one of America's most distinguished artists, this lavishly illustrated deluxe gift edition is available once again. A Books of Wonder Classic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Great story of chivalry
My parents had a series of books when I was a child.They a book-of-the-month collection that contained the collected works of many of the most famous western authors such as Shakespeare, Balzac, Wilde, etc.They had them mainly for show but being an avid reader, I went thru many of them.

My first introduction to Sherlock Holmes and Watson were in Sir Conan Doyle's volume but the story that fascinated me more than any other was "the White Company."I read that story dozens of times.When my parents moved and decided to give the books to the school library, I kept that volume.Somewhere in the last 35 years it disappeared.Thank goodness I found it and the previously unread companion piece, Sir Nigel.

Rich descriptions, adventure, humor - can't beat it.
Each poetically descriptive sentence is as a brushstroke that paints a colorful, lively picture of the scenery, landscape, characters, and events.You can picture everything very vividly in your mind.The characaters were each unique and fascinating.The story unfolded quite differently than I would have expected for a book about a war.It was a beautifully constructed story; an education about chivalry and how wars used to be fought. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this book, and hope to re-read it in the future.

Of another time
An 18th century author writing about the dark ages. It reads more like incidents within a narrative rather than a single story.I found the ending abrupt and not credible. I expected more of the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

Great Stuff!
I loved this book as a kid, and found new depths to it when I came back to it as an adult.A must-read!The breadth of imagination and the color and vividness of the descriptions are hard to match, and the characters are memorable -- Samkin Aylward the master-archer is my favorite.

Thank you Louis Lamour
I discovered the White Company while reading Louis Lamour's "Education of A Wondering Man".It was included in Lamours reading list from the 1930's.On a lark i checked it out.

What a gem this book is!I simply could not put it down.The language, the characters, the history and the humor simply crackle off the pages.

If you have a son, here's your next gift. ... Read more

Book Description
Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name is recognized the world over, for decades the man himself has been overshadowed by his better understood creation, Sherlock Holmes, who has become one of literature's most enduring characters. Based on thousands of previously unavailable documents, Andrew Lycett, author of the critically acclaimed biography Dylan Thomas, offers the first definitive biography of the baffling Conan Doyle, finally making sense of a long-standing mystery: how the scientifically minded creator of the world's most rational detective himself succumbed to an avid belief in spiritualism, including communication with the dead.

Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. Always romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and fool-hardy. Lycett assembles the many threads of Conan Doyle's life, including the lasting impact of his domineering mother and his wayward, alcoholic father; his affair with a younger woman while his wife lay dying; and his nearly fanatical pursuit of scientific data to prove and explain various supernatural phenomena. Lycett reveals the evolution of Conan Doyle's nature and ideas against the backdrop of his intense personal life, wider society and the intellectual ferment of his age. In response to the dramatic scientific and social transformations at the turn of the century, he rejected traditional religious faith in favor of psychics and séances -- and in this way he embodied all of his late-Victorian, early-Edwardian era's ambivalence about the advance of science and the decline of religion.

The first biographer to gain access to Conan Doyle's newly released personal archive -- which includes correspondence, diaries, original manuscripts and more -- Lycett combines assiduous research with penetrating insight to offer the most comprehensive, lucid and sympathetic portrait yet of Conan Doyle's personal journey from student to doctor, from world-famous author to ardent spiritualist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The Real Holmes, The Real Doyle
A case could be made that the most famous character in fiction is Sherlock Holmes.Everybody knows him, if not from the original stories, then from the countless plays, movies, and parodies.There is an international fan club, and the great detective still gets mail at his 221B Baker Street address in London.But his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was not so enthusiastic.Surely Holmes was the making of Doyle as a literary man, but six years after Holmes first appeared, Doyle wrote in 1892, "I am weary of his name."The public enthusiasm over the detective was, in Doyle's view, keeping him from writing the better things for which he wanted to be known, among which were his books and pamphlets in defense of the new religion of spiritualism.He failed in many of his non-Sherlockian efforts, and thus his most recent biography is called _The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle_ (Free Press) by Andrew Lycett.The author has made a specialty of literary biographies (Ian Fleming, Rudyard Kipling, Dylan Thomas) and has had a long battle with the complicated network of Doyle heirs (described here in an afterword) to produce a big and detailed portrait of a gifted and deeply conflicted author.

Doyle was born in 1859 in Scotland, of Irish parents.He was all her life devoted to his "Mam", perhaps excessively even by Victorian standards.Many of his words quoted here are from letters to her.His father was insane and an alcoholic, incarcerated for years in mental institutions.Doyle abandoned his family's Catholicism and as a young man claimed agnosticism at a time when the term and the idea was a new one, before eventually claiming spiritualism.Though Lycett covers Doyles other literary works, it is Sherlock who will always be most important.Doyle killed Holmes off and remained a popular author without him, but not as popular and not as wealthy, and the reading world rejoiced to learn that Holmes's death was only apparent, not actual, when the stories resumed.Lycett writes, "Becoming a spiritualist so soon after creating the quintessentially rational Sherlock Holmes: that is the central paradox of Arthur's life."Lycett has examined the paradox thoroughly, but probably it can never be fully explained.Doyle never mixed spiritualism into the Holmes stories.When Holmes encountered superstition, it was always with the understanding that there were rational, material explanations for what people had misinterpreted as the doings of the supernatural.

Lycett's book is excellent about Doyle's literary efforts and his eagerness to involve contemporary concerns into his fiction, even if he was careful not to mix his spiritualism with his famous detective.Lycett's extensive investigations into newly-available archives mean that we can know Doyle's whereabouts, budgets, and enthusiasms with sometimes day-to-day accuracy.Doyle was an anomaly in many ways, supporting and uprooting conservative British ideals in different spheres, and Lycett has done justice to his many non-literary interests.It is as the creator of his famous detective, however, that he must always be best remembered, and the many Sherlock fans will find a treat in this a detailed, far from elementary biography.

The Strange Adventure of the Scottish Doctor who created Sherlock H olmes and believed in fairies
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh Scotland to native Irish parents. His father was a minor painter who died an alcoholic in a mental asylum. His formidable mother Mary was a smart and literate woman who relished telling tales to Arthur and his siblings.
Arthur studied and graduated with a degree in medicine from Edinburgh University where his favorite teacher was Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell would be his inspiration for his famous detective creation along with Oliver Wendell Holmes. Doyle went on a ship to the Artic in his 20th year serving as the medical officer. He enjoyed travel and adventure throughout his life. He loved America and often visited our shores.
In the 1880s he set up practice in Portsmouth becoming a prominent figure in the community. He married his first wife Louise with whom he had two children: Mary and Kingsley who died of disease in World War I.
Doyle enjoyed sport all of his life indulging in cricket, skiing in Switzerland, tennis, bicycling, motoring and golf. He was a macho man's man who was also a patriot loving the British Empire. He was friendly with such writers as Kipling, Stevenson, Meredith and Hardy.
In the 1880s and 1890's he produced his first Sherlock Holmes novels:
"A Study in Scarlet" and "A Sign of Four." The Holmes short stories were produced in the Strand magazine and were wildly popular. Holmes pooh-poohed these tales wanting to write historical fiction in imitation of his idol Sir Walter Scott. In this genre the prolific doctor produced such works as "The White Company" He often sought to kill off Holmes but the last tale of the detective would not be published until late in his life due to the love the public had for the man in the deerstalker. Holmes was also played on the stage by William Gillette and was seen in silent and early talkie films.
Doyle's wife Louise died from TB in 1906. The famous and wealthy author had already begun an affair with his second wife Jean Leckie with whom he was to marry and have three children.
Doyle participated in the Boer War and visited the front in World War. His last years were spent as an evangelist for spiritualism. He died in 1930 known today almost exclusively for the Sherlock Holmes tales he so disdained in his lifetime.
Andrew Lycett has authored several literary biographies including those of Dylan Thomas, Ian Fleming and Rudyard Kipling. He has written a good book on Doyle which is illustrated and researched being based on several of the recently released letters of Doyle.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. A scientist who loved spiritualism. Amarried and settled family man who committed adultery. An icon to boys who often was far from home and family. An Irish heritage person who opposed the home rule of the Emerald Isle. A brilliant observer of life who was often duped by spiritualistic charlatans. A born Roman Catholic who did not like organized religion.
This book along with the recently published "The Letters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" will increase your knowledge of the genius behind the creation of Dr. John Watson and the inimitable thinking machine from Baker Street. One also gains in knowledge of the Victorian/Edwardian literary scene.

A very comprehensive account
In the middle of the 19th century, the man who would create Sherlock Holmes was born Arthur Ignatius Conan. He sprang from a large family of artists --- most of whom preferred paint as their medium over written words, but creativity was in his blood from the beginning. Full of curiosity as a child, he "soaked up tales as a sponge absorbs water." He read voraciously to help quench his uncommon thirst for knowledge. His characters' names came from as far back as his school days, where he met a fellow pupil named Patrick Sherlock and came across an interesting pair, the Moriarty brothers.

Despite his vivid imagination, Arthur embarked on a career path of medicine. Fortunately for Sherlock Holmes fans, he discovered that he was a mediocre doctor but a great writer. Oddly, although a man of science, his interests took him through phases of dabbling with the occult, studying hypnotism, playing with the Ouija board and toying with spiritualism.

"Becoming a spiritualist so soon after creating the quintessentially rational Sherlock Holmes: that is the central paradox of Arthur's life." It is possible that the introduction of Dr. John Watson was necessary to balance that out. Watson is more romantic, more human, more fallible --- sometimes even to the point of naïvete --- than Holmes. Together, they round each other out.

More than a mere biography, Andrew Lycett's book is a fascinating study in how a character is conceived, groomed and shaped into someone who readers demand to see more of. Conan Doyle possessed a very active, inquiring mind, which is well used in his beloved stories. He lived in a lively time of wondrous authors: Charles Dickens, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson and Rudyard Kipling, to name a few. So competition was fierce, but Conan Doyle's determination carried him through.

At the same time, much was going on in the world around Conan Doyle, which influenced the direction and tenor of Holmes's adventures. Brutal wars were brewing in an age of phenomenal inventions. Providence helped Conan Doyle survive the battlefront, the vagaries of travel, the caprice of young adulthood and several serious illnesses, one that threatened him within a breath of his life. His legacy came very close to fading before it took hold.

Sherlock Holmes didn't start out a finished character. Far from it. He evolved. Starting with the bare bones of the man, he was fleshed out into a caped consulting detective with a deerstalker's cap and a meerschaum pipe through the hands of illustrators, professors and even actors. His legendary logic appeared initially and honed itself into a rare and highly entertaining skill. Soon, it leaked out that Holmes had a drug habit. And this seemingly asexual man showed a contradictory side whenever he spoke of the one woman who ever truly captured his interest: Irene Adler.

Find out where Conan Doyle got his ideas, names, personality traits, and why he grew to hate Holmes --- enough to try to kill him. Conan Doyle's mother saved Holmes once, but Sir Arthur could only abide him for so long. However, he underestimated Holmes's popularity.

Andrew Lycett had a wealth of information at his disposal, which has enabled him to present Sherlock Holmes lovers everywhere with this very comprehensive account of the life and times of the man who created him.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

The mystery behind the man...
Most know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle only for his literary creation Sherlock Holmes, the detective that was born over one century ago, and does not show any signs of aging.In an effort to expand knowledge of Holmes creator, Andrew Lycett wrote this simply outstanding biographical work that is a must have for mystery readers as well as personal history fans.I was aware of some of the details and influences of Doyle prior to recieving this book as a gift at Christmas, but the insights/perspective gained on Doyle make this book a treasure.

Fans of the great detective are always on the the lookout for good material, and this book must be counting among their list.Other recommended reading would include The Crime Doctor, which includes new work by David Jacobs and provides complimentary insights to Lycett's book on the life of EW Hornung (also the creator of Raffles), and brother-in-law to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who so greatly influenced this work by Hornung in his creation of Doctor John Dollar, the physician-sleuth.

The Disagreeable Mr. Doyle
I love Sherlock Holmes.He is one of the greatest characters in fiction -- so realistic, in fact, that many people insist he was a genuine person.So it seemed to make sense that I would like his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.But I didn't.
That is no fault of Andrew Lycett, the author of The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes.Lycett's biography is outstanding in every way -- well researched (utilizing letters of Doyle's that have only just become available), well organized, and beautifully written.He also does his job superbly, as the reader comes to know Doyle intimately.And there's the rub, for Arthur Conan Doyle is not a very likable man.
He started out well enough.Doyle was eager to be successful, as his father was an alcoholic who rarely contributed to his family's finances.Young Arthur therefore needed to help his family.He earned his medical degree and wrote stories to supplement his income.Once he introduced Sherlock Holmes in 1888, Doyle realized he could earn more as a writer than as a Doctor.
After years of writing tales of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle grew tired of the great detective.Doyle also felt his other writings were being overlooked.So he killed Holmes off.
But Holmes was his cash cow, his guaranteed moneymaker, so Doyle eventually brought him back, much to the delight of readers throughout the world.It is Lycett's illuminations of Holmes and the background he givesfor each of the stories and novels that are the most interesting part of a very interesting book.
Doyle befriended many writers and celebrities, including Rudyard Kipling, P.G. Wodehouse, Harry Houdini, Thomas Hardy and several others.He was well liked, successful, and fairly humble.
That all began to change in 1894, when his wife Louise became seriously ill with tuberculosis.Doyle avoided her, taking lecture trips and holidays without her or their two children.He met and fell in love with a woman fifteen years his junior, and devoted a great deal of time to this relationship.Doyle insisted their relationship was entirely platonic, but Lycett finds this hard to swallow.Doyle and his new love spent the next decade waiting for Louise to die.When she finally did in 1906, their marriage followed soon after, and they quickly began a family of their own.Once this happened, Doyle essentially ignored the two children from his first marriage, shipping them off to boarding school, and not even allowing them to come home for Christmas.At least part of Doyle's indifference was prompted by his second wife Jean.
Doyle had always had a belief in spiritualism, which was not so strange, as it was quite a popular phenomenon in his time.But when his son from his first marriage and his younger brother were killed in WorldWar I, Doyle's belief in spiritualism -- the idea that one can commune with the spirits of the dead -- caused him to lose touch with reality.Doyle became a bit of a pompous bore.He refused to lecture on Holmes or any of his other writings, but would only speak about spiritualism.So fanatical did Doyle become that he lost his friendships with Kipling and Houdini.
Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, and I am indebted to him for many hours of reading pleasure.Andrew Lycett's biography of Doyle is captivating, even if Doyle is not.The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes will surely be the Doyle biography of our time. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
This second edition is completely revised, with over a hundred pages of new material. New to this edition are comics adaptations of Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" by Rod Lott and Simon Gane, and Brigadier Gerard in "The Castle of Gloom" by Antonella Caputo and Nick Miller. Plus Doyle's fearsome pirate "Captain Sharkey", illustrated by John W. Pierard, "The Ghosts of Goresthorpe Grange" by Peter Gullerud, and "The Great Brown-Pericord Motor" by Milton Knight. Returning from the first edition are Sherlock Holmes in "The Copper Beeches" by Rick Geary, and stories illustrated by Roger Langridge and J.B. Bonivert. With a new cover by Kent Steine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

New Doyle adaptations in an updated edition
A new edition, "Graphic Classics: Arthur Conan Doyle" is updated and revised, with five new stories adapted in the Graphic Classics style.As with the previous release, several different illustrators adapt and interpret some of Doyle's most famous stories and creations, as well as a few lesser known gems.

This second edition is less Sherlock Holmes heavy, containing only two adaptations of the Great Detective.Also removed is the lengthy "The Lost World," which allows for room for more short stories. Still missing is an adaptation of Doyle's mummy tale "Lot 249," but overall, I prefer this version to the previous release.

Included are:

A Parable - A clever little allegory about cheese mites debating where cheese comes from.

The Adventure of the Copper Beeches - Returning from the first edition, a fascinating Sherlock Holmes adventure well-adapted by Rick Geary.

Captain Sharkey - A brutal Pirate adventure, with an illustration style that fully plays to the strengths of the story.

The Los Amigos Fiasco - Possibly the best tale from the first edition, an amusing tale of an Electric Chair gone wrong, with a complimenting visual style.Very funny!

Master - A touching, short poem.

The Great Brown-Pericord Motor - Milton Knight adapts this amusing tale of greed and invention in his usual comic style.

How the Brigadier Came to the Castle of Gloom - Introduced in "Graphic Classics: Adventure Classics," one of Doyle's comedic characters, Brigadier Gerard, returns in a tall tale of romance and daring do.

The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb - A new Holmes adaptation, brilliantly illustrated by Simon Gane.More please.

The Ghosts of Goresthorpe Grange - An unusual ghost story of a man who buys an ancestral mansion and is disappointed to find that it is not haunted.What is the use of an ancient castle with no ghost? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

fairly good -for having to use for a last minute english research paper
This book offers a good, in-depth critical review of the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; - great for basing a last minute research paper off of... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Making meaning out of Holmes for today...
Sherlock Holmes is one of the best known detectives in the world -- so famous in fact, that 221BBaker Street in London continues to get mail adddressed to this fictional character almost a century after he would have died had he been a real person.There are groups of people -- Sherlockians and Holmesians, the distinction between which is rather subtle -- who delight in retelling the tales.There are forever questions and debates about the ordering of the stories; there are remarkable attempts to try to 'find' Holmes in reality, to place him in real historical events.Some have seen Conan Doyle not as an author, but as a literary agent for the shadowy Dr. Watson, a real author.How is it that a fictional character can have this kind of power?

David Payne, professor of history at Northern Kentucky University (where he has a wide range of interests reflected in the courses he has taught), argues that our world is not so different from the world of the Victorians and Edwardians who first encountered Holmes -- that our world varies by degree, but not in kind.Holmes speaks to needs and values that we share with those in the nineteenth century; while it is undoubtedly true that some areas of human endeavour have changed dramatically, it is also true that human nature is much slower to change, which is why we can still relate to drama from ancient Greece or from Shakespeare.

However, with Holmes there is more than just an ability to relate.There is a strong identification that is at the heart of Holmesian appeal, largely unintended by Conan Doyle, according to Payne.Indeed, Conan Doyle grew to dislike his own creation for a time; he reconciled in various ways over time.Holmes represents for us, as it did for the earliest readers, a perfected time.It does represent a past for us which never existed, but then Payne as a good historian knows that there is no past that we recreate that is in fact real, or ever existed as we create them.

Payne argues that Holmes is the most famous character in all of English literature -- this may or may not be true (there is no quantifiable way of determining this as a certainty; but Payne's intuitive idea makes sense), but that Holmes' fame is great enough to transcend generation and language barriers is beyond dispute.Payne looks at different kinds of literary issues as will as historical and cultural/sociological issues surrounding the kind of deep-seated mythological presence Holmes occupies in our time.He also looks at the more human sides of Holmes, particularly in the final chapter, where issues of gender and class also come into play.

It is not always easy to separate out what is Conan Doyle and what is Holmes -- in many ways, this is irrelevant to the final meaning taken from the stories, and the continuing impact of the character of Holmes on the world.Payne's analysis is insightful and interesting, of value not only to fans of Holmes, but also to those interested in the way that literature, the arts, and general narrative frameworks can be incorporated into the modern-to-postmodern world.

... Read more