Overview

'Fascinating … A stimulating contribution to our never-ending fascination with Holmes himself, and, even more perhaps, his genial creator' Sunday Times A medical student at the University of Edinburgh, Arthur Conan Doyle studied under the vigilant eye of Dr Joseph Bell. He observed as Dr Bell identified a patient's occupation, hometown and ailments from the smallest details of dress, gait and speech. Although Doyle was training to be a surgeon, he was cultivating essential knowledge that would help him to define the art of the detective novel. From Doyle's early days surrounded by poverty and violence, through to his first days as a surgeon, Michael Sims traces the circuitous yet inevitable development of Arthur Conan Doyle as the father of the modern mystery. The incomparable Sherlock Holmes emerges as a product of Doyle's varied lessons in the classroom and professional life.

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9781408858554

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Fabulous ... With all the brilliance of Sherlock himself ... Sims is himself an ingenious investigator. Among his most intriguing explorations is his teasing out of not just Conan Doyle's personal history but the history of the detective story itself New York Times Stuffed with fascinating detail ... The book is a brimfull of Holmesian arcana and minutiae Sunday Times A warm and affectionate look at how Arthur Conan Doyle introduced the Great Detective and the Good Doctor to the world! ... A carefully researched but thoroughly readable work that will surely appeal to the millions of Holmes's admirers as well as students of crime-writing Leslie S. Klinger, editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes A different take on Doylean biography ... The perfect author ... He uses his material in ways that - though many of the facts may be familiar - the reader comes away with a new way of considering both the detective and his creator Baker Street Journal A fascinating insight into Doyle's difficult early life when he was surrounded by poverty and violence Choice A fine book ... Even the most learned of Baker Street Irregulars will enjoy Sims' look at the making of Sherlock Holmes Kirkus

Author Information

Michael Sims’s six acclaimed non-fiction books include The Adventures of Henry Thoreau, The Story of Charlotte’s Web, and Adam’s Navel, and he edits the Connoisseur’s Collection anthology series, which includes Dracula’s Guest, The Dead Witness, The Phantom Coach, and the forthcoming Frankenstein Dreams. His writing has appeared in New Statesman, New York Times, Washington Post, and many other periodicals. He appears often on NPR, BBC and other networks. He lives in Pennsylvania. michaelsimsbooks.com @MichaelSimsBook

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