Arthur & Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes

About Arthur & Sherlock From the acclaimed author of The Adventures of Henry Thoreau and The Story of Charlotte's Web comes the new story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the mind behind Sherlock Holmes and the creator of the modern detective novel As a young 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 both imagined and genuine from the smallest details of dress, gait and speech. Although Doyle was training to be a surgeon, he was meanwhile cultivating essential knowledge that would help him to develop and define the art of the detective novel. From Doyle's early days surrounded by poverty and violence, to his escape to University and finally to his first days as a surgeon in his own practice, acclaimed author Michael Sims traces the circuitous yet inevitable development of Arthur Conan Doyle as the father of the modern mystery, whose most f