Conan Doyle : writing, profession, and practice / Douglas Kerr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kerr, Douglas, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Doyle, Arthur Conan, 1859-1930--Criticism and interpretation.

Doyle, Arthur Conan.

Doyle, Arthur Conan, 1859-1930.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

xii, 273 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

Arthur Conan Doyle has always been a popular writer, best-known as the creator of the perennially popular Sherlock Holmes. He was also the author of historical adventures, scientific romances like The Lost World, supernatural tales (including one of the first Egyptian mummy thrillers), and memoirs. He wrote about his world travels, his campaigns against injustice, and his belief in Spiritualism. This study of his work is a book for students of literary and cultural history, and for Conan Doyle enthusiasts. Approaching his writing in terms of themes - such as sport, science, crime, and empire-this book finds in it a complex and surprising interpretation of a late-Victorian and early twentieth-century world, emerging into a troubling modernity. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

Practice 1

Profession 8

2 Sport 18

Sport and the nation 18

The straight left 25

A nation of amateurs 34

3 Medicine 41

The statement of the case 41

The consultants 49

In general practice 58

The cold detective 67

4 Science 79

The curious adventure in Berlin 79

Monsters and committees 100

Thinking like a scientist 122

5 Law and Order 133

Crimes and punishments 133

Edalji's eyes 148

6 Army and Empire 159

Soldier boys 159

Army 171

Empire 187

7 Spirit 201

Church 201

Spiritualism 209

Fairies 233

The new life 249.

ISBN:

9780199674947

0199674949

OCLC:

835969698