Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Crime Stories of the 19th Century

by Isaac Asimov (Editor), Charles G. Waugh (Editor)

Tales of mystery and skillful detection fill a volume of stories by such favorites as Twain, Dickens, Hardy, Poe, Irving, and Dumas

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery

325 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Deepti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well. This book left me mostly with the feeling that barring maybe Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 19th century had pretty terrible crime writers.

Should have just left it to the 20th and 21st century.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

If one believes that Edgar Allan Poe wrote the first detective story, then one realizes how early these crime stories are. Certainly, the genre was still finding it's way when these stories were published. To be frank, some of these stories are interesting only as artifacts and not as entertainment for the 21st century. If one enjoys going back into time, then these stories work well as to how writers and readers understood the new fiction of that century.

[Nancy]

Asimov's thesis in this collection of stories is that the 19th century saw a slow turn from tales of the clever and daring criminal to those of the clever and daring detective. after a long expanse of siding with clever and resourceful outlaws, like Robin Hood, suddenly there were popular tales where the audience sides with detective--not the criminal.
I was very struck by his argument:
"Most societies through history have been terribly unjust, have favored the rich and the well-born, and have treated the poor like animals. [Consequently} while the aristocracy may applaud the tales of heroes and knights, the people want to hear of successful thieves and of little tailors who slay giants by trickery. ... But some societies arise that give most people some feeling that they have a chance, even if poor and low-born, to obtain justice. There has to be a governmental assumption, in theory, at least, that a society is governed by the rule of law, without fear or favor, for rich and poor, for high and low, alike. It is only then that there seems any point to the general population in supporting the law, and it is only then that it becomes possible to acclaim the clever man who bends his talents to the thwarting of crime.
The stories he has selected are exemplary.

[Tikuli · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection in my opinion. I have read most of the authors individually and a few are my favorites too so it was a good read. Especially enjoyed The Nameless Man - Rodriguez Ottolengui, The Purloined letter - Edgar Allen Poe and The Three Strangers - Thomas Hardy. In the history of crime fiction and Mystery stories the period of 19th century was at its peak and this anthology is an interesting collection of some of the finest.

[Ashish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am fan of Isaac Asimov. So I ordered this book simply seeing his name. Big Mistake. It's not unreadable, and is passable. But none of the crime stories are crime stories in any sense. Sleuthing is plain and non interesting. Language corresponds to the era but is not too difficult to read. If this is what best of 19th Century can offer then I feel pity.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still reading the stories between other books.