The World Of Sherlock Holmes: The Facts And Fiction Behind The World's Greatest Detective

by Martin Fido

This comprehensive and revealing book explores the fictional life of Sherlock Holmes and that of his real life creator, Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle's adventures featuring the genius Sherlock Holmes heralded the rise of the detective novel. Along with his faithful sidekick, Dr Watson, Holmes solved a series of complex and intriguing fictional crimes and battled with his nemesis, the evil Moriarty, to the death and beyond.

The World of Sherlock Holmes examines the stories and exposes the myths and reality of the era in which Conan Doyle's mysteries were published, which saw the rise of Scotland Yard as a legendary organisation for criminal detection and huge advances in forensic medicine, the science of deduction and criminal analysis. Sherlock Holmes' popularity has never waned, and his silhouette with the deerstalker hat and pipe are recognisable over the world. To many, he is an eccentric, intellectual detective; but he had a far darker, more enigmatic side to his character - complex, solitary and prone to narcotic addition. There have been countless cinema, television and stage adaptations of the stories, most recently the ambitious modern interpretation with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, in which Sherlock Holmes uses digital technologies to help him solve the crime. The original BBC series has been distributed worldwide. In 2012, Lucy Liu also caused a stir by taking on the role of Watson opposite Johnny Lee Miller in another modern re-working, in the CBS series Elementary.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1998

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm no Sherlockian, but I do have my small collection of Annotated Sherlock (both) and some coffee table books and other tributes. This book just left me a little cold. While it certainly covers a lot of ground - almost every aspect of Conan Doyle and Holmes is covered, hence the three stars - it is more editorial than historical. It's more about the author's opinions (pretty negative on about half the stories). Also, he seems to get certain facts wrong, perhaps because of the breadth of his coverage, which makes me wonder which other facts are wrong that I don't have opportunity to check. His descriptions of Father Brown and Lord Peter make me think that he doesn't enjoy crime fiction quite enough to be a happy guide through it.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very in-depth book, that not only covers a lot of ground in the Sherlock Holmes world, but also goes deep into all subjects. A must read for Sherlock fans!

[J.J. Lair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a few things about life in Doyle’s era of England. The officers in the Army and life. There is a fair amount of time given to Doyle’s other work and family. There is a countdown of Holmes facts through the stories. Why did Holmes persist to be famous when some of it is very dated? I live near Connecticut so the William Gillette stories interested me. Then we get the better actors and movies.
I think the author is fascinated by the character but not the stories. He has opinions on them, not all flattering. He rushed through that part of the book.

[Claire Q · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has a wide breadth of information and good pictures, but I found typos in my copy and I felt like there were a few mistakes. A good introduction for someone new to Sherlock Holmes. Got it as a Barnes and Noble bargain book and found it to be a good deal for the price.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not agree with all the authors analysis of the stories and novels. Some were purely ridiculous, but full of interesting trivia and information. Great fun to flip through

[Michael Eklund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject, excellently illustrated, boringly written.

[Bikerider99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done source of background information.

[Hiu Ying]

2。

[Lawon Clayton · Rating 2 out of 5]

It didn't go in the direction I thought it would

[Jon Allanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid, if pedestrian, read. Nothing earthshattering, but a fine overview of the author, his creation, and the place the books and the character have found in the world. If you are a Sherlock fan at all, there are certainly worse things you could read.

[David Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A description of some of Conan Doyle's work, how it was received at the time it was written and why, as well as information about Conan Doyle himself and the ways his characters have been used and enjoyed to this day.

[Rachel Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the amateur Sherlockian like me, this was a dense and detailed read but quite interesting.

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable collection of facts about all things Sherlock Holmes.