Sherlock Holmes: The Unauthorized Biography - Hardcover

Rennison, Nick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1843542749 ISBN 13: 9781843542742

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2005

Synopsis

From his mysterious connections to the British criminal underworld to his early acquaintance with Dr Watson, Sherlock Holmes: the biography blends what we already know of Holmes's career with social history to answer the questions his admirers have long puzzled over. Sherlock Holmes: the biography reveals for the first time Holmes's unprecedented influence on the major political events and crimes of late-nineteenth-century England. It also brings to light Holmes's close friendships with key figures of the day, including Oscar Wilde, Sigmund Freud and Cecil Rhodes; and exposes the truth about his cocaine addiction. As a young man, Holmes was drawn to the stage and ran away from Cambridge to work in the West End with the actor Henry Irving. Later, his older brother Mycroft drew him into unofficial work for the British government - including a hitherto unknown conspiracy to murder the Irish nationalist sympathizer Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. This meticulous recreation of the secret life and curious times of the great detective will prove compulsive reading for Holmes fans everywhere.

About this title

About the Author:

Nick Rennison works as an editor, writer and bookseller. His books include a poetry anthology, a short study of Sigmund Freud and two guides to fiction, The Good Reading Guide (6th edition, 2003) and The Good Reading Guide to Crime Fiction (2nd edition, 2003). He has been fascinated by the life and career of Sherlock Holmes since reading about him as a child and wrote Sherlock Homes, published by Atlantic Books, in 2005. Nick Rennison works as an editor, writer and bookseller. His books include a poetry anthology, a short study of Sigmund Freud and two guides to fiction, The Good Reading Guide (6th edition, 2003) and The Good Reading Guide to Crime Fiction (2nd edition, 2003). He has been fascinated by the life and career of Sherlock Holmes since reading about him as a child and wrote Sherlock Homes, published by Atlantic Books, in 2005.

From School Library Journal:

Adult/High School—Rennison covers the "life" of fictional Sherlock Holmes in depth while providing entertaining reading for anyone who has met the detective in print or on screen. There have been numerous Holmes mysteries written by authors other than Conan Doyle over the years, some of which have added to what we "know" about Holmes. Nicholas Meyer's The Seven Percent Solution (Norton, 1993), any of Laurie R. King's excellent series, or Michael Chabon's The Final Solution (HarperCollins, 2004) are a few of the good ones that preceded this clever extrapolation. Rather than presenting a Holmesian mystery, Rennison takes the history of a legendary man with extraordinary powers of deduction and attempts to demystify him. In presenting Holmes's life, he lays historical events side by side with Watson's related tales and shows how, by thinly veiling names and adjusting small facts, one can work out a real time line for Holmes's activities. This is a thoughtful and fun addition to the Sherlock Holmes canon, and a must for everyone who enjoys the greatest detective of all time.—Dana Cobern-Kullman, Luther Burbank Middle School, Burbank, CA
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About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1843542749
• ISBN 13: 9781843542742
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240