The man who created Sherlock Holmes

the life and times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

1st Free Press hardcover ed.
  • 2 Want to read

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

Check-In

×Close
Add an optional check-in date. Check-in dates are used to track yearly reading goals.
Today

  • 2 Want to read

Buy this book

Last edited by ImportBot
October 8, 2021 | History

The man who created Sherlock Holmes

the life and times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

1st Free Press hardcover ed.
  • 2 Want to read

A comprehensive biography of Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that explores his childhood, family life, medical practice, authorship of nonfiction works, inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, social acquaintances, marriages, interest in spiritualism, and much more.

Publish Date
Publisher
Free Press
Language
English
Pages
559

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The man who created Sherlock Holmes
The man who created Sherlock Holmes: the life and times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2008, Free Press
in English - 1st Free Press trade pbk. ed.
Cover of: The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes
The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes: The life and times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2007 December, Free Press
Hardcover in English - 1st Free Press hardcover ed.
Cover of: The man who created Sherlock Holmes
The man who created Sherlock Holmes: the life and times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2007, Free Press
in English - 1st Free Press hardcover ed.

Add another edition?

Book Details


Table of Contents

Two Irish Families
Early years in Edinburgh 1859-1868
Stonyhurst and Feldkirch 1868-1876
Edinburgh university 1876-1881
On the road-Ireland, West Africa and Plymouth 1881-1882
Bush Villas, Portsmouth 1882-1883
Marriage and A study in scarlet 1884-1886
Discovery of spiritualism 1887-1888
Birth of a daughter 1889-1890
Vienna and London 1891-1892
Tennison Road, South Norwood 1892
Swiss interlude 1893-1894
America, Egypt and Undershaw 1894-1897
Jean Leckie 1897
Boer War and aftermath 1899-1901
The hound of Baskervilles to Louise's death 1901-1906
Edalji, second marriage and Windlesham 1907-1908
Pre-war: from Cornwall to Canada 1909-1914
First World War 1914-1918
Spiritualist mission 1919-1924
Bignell Wood and death 1925-1930.

Edition Notes

Originally published: Conan Doyle : the man who created Sherlock Holmes. London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 479-509) and index.

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
823/.8, B
Library of Congress
PR4623 .L93 2007, PR4623.L93 2007

The Physical Object

Pagination
x, 559 p., [16] p. of plates :
Number of pages
559

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL24930610M
Internet Archive
manwhocreatedshe00lyce
ISBN 10
0743275233
ISBN 13
9780743275231
LCCN
2007034816
OCLC/WorldCat
148843231

Work 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. - Publisher.

Community Reviews (0)

Feedback?
No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
October 8, 2021 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
February 13, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
February 5, 2019 Edited by Lisa Edited without comment.
February 5, 2019 Edited by Lisa Added new cover
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page