Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish physician, novelist and campaigner born in Edinburgh in 1859. After studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, he worked as a ship’s doctor and established a medical practice while developing his literary career. He achieved lasting fame through Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, who appeared in four novels and fifty-six short stories beginning with A Study in Scarlet. Doyle also wrote science fiction, supernatural tales, political pamphlets and histories of the Boer War and First World War. He died in 1930.

Although now identified chiefly with detective fiction, Doyle regarded historical adventure as an important part of his work. Micah Clarke is set during the Monmouth Rebellion, while The White Company and its prequel Sir Nigel follow English knights and archers during the Hundred Years’ War. The Brigadier Gerard stories use a boastful French cavalry officer to present the Napoleonic Wars with humour and affection, while novels including The Refugees, Uncle Bernac and Rodney Stone explore religious persecution, revolutionary France and the world of Regency boxing. His historical fiction combines military action and chivalric adventure with carefully reconstructed political and social settings.