The Poison Belt and Other Professor Challenger Stories: Annotated Edition

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Summoned from London, journalist Edward Malone, narrator of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prehistoric-adventure novel The Lost World, finds himself reunited with his erstwhile travelling companions at the country home of their leader, the indomitable Professor Challenger, who, confining his guests in a sealed room with the cylinders of oxygen they have brought at his request, informs them that the Earth is passing through an immense miasma of poisonous ether that will likely extirpate all life. And so the isolated inmates begin a grim and terrifying vigil – but will the toxic vapour dissipate before their limited supply of oxygen is exhausted?

Presented here with two short stories representing further thrilling episodes in the illustrious career of Conan Doyle’s other great anti-hero, Professor Challenger – ‘The Disintegration Machine’ and ‘When the World Screamed’ – The Poison Belt is a tour de force of speculative fiction that is the equal of any of the author’s best-known works.

Alma Classics is committed to making available a wide range of literature from around the globe. Most of the titles are enriched by an extensive critical apparatus, notes and extra reading material, as well as a selection of photographs. The texts are based on the most authoritative edition and edited using a fresh, accessible editorial approach. With an emphasis on production, editorial and typographical values, Alma Classics aspires to revitalize the whole experience of reading classics.

Genres: Book Club

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2025

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.