The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

• New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
• Comments by other famous authors
• Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
• Bibliographies for further reading
• Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

The Complete Sherlock Holmes comprises four novels and fifty-six short stories revolving around the world’s most popular and influential fictional detective—the eccentric, arrogant, and ingenious Sherlock Holmes. He and his trusted friend, Dr. Watson, step from Holmes’s comfortable quarters at 221b Baker Street into the swirling fog of Victorian London to exercise that unique combination of detailed observation, vast knowledge, and brilliant deduction. Inevitably, Holmes rescues the innocent, confounds the guilty, and solves the most perplexing puzzles known to literature.

Volume I of The Complete Sherlock Holmes starts with Holmes’s first appearance, A Study in Scarlet, a chilling murder novel complete with bloodstained walls and cryptic clues, followed by the baffling The Sign of Four, which introduces Holmes’s cocaine problem and Watson’s future wife. The story collections The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes feature such renowned tales as "A Scandal in Bohemia,” "The Red-Headed League,” and "The Musgrave Ritual.”

Tired of writing stories about Holmes, his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, killed him off at the end of "The Final Problem,” the last tale in The Memoirs. But the public outcry was so great that eight years later he published the masterful The Hound of the Baskervilles, which supposedly takes place before Holmes’s death.

The separate Volume II of The Complete Sherlock Holmes collects the remaining accounts of Holmes’s exploits, including "The Adventure of the Empty House,” which reveals the elaborate circumstances behind Holmes’s literary resurrection.

Kyle Freeman, a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast for many years, earned two graduate degrees in English literature from Columbia University, where his major was twentieth-century British literature.

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All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each readers understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LI&&R&&L/I&&R&&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LI&&RThe Complete Sherlock Holmes&&L/I&&R comprises four novels and fifty-six short stories revolving around the world's most popular and influential fictional detective—the eccentric, arrogant, and ingenious Sherlock Holmes. He and his trusted friend, Dr. Watson, step from Holmes's comfortable quarters at 221b Baker Street into the swirling fog of Victorian London to exercise that unique combination of detailed observation, vast knowledge, and brilliant deduction. Inevitably, Holmes rescues the innocent, confounds the guilty, and solves the most perplexing puzzles known to literature. &&LBR&&R&&LBR&&R&&LI&&RVolume I&&L/I&&R of &&LI&&RThe Complete Sherlock Holmes&&L/I&&R starts with Holmes's first appearance, &&LI&&RA Study in Scarlet&&L/I&&R, a chilling murder novel complete with bloodstained walls and cryptic clues, followed by the baffling &&LI&&RThe Sign of Four&&L/I&&R, which introduces Holmes's cocaine problem and Watson's future wife. The story collections &&LI&&RThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes&&L/I&&R and &&LI&&RThe Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes&&L/I&&R feature such renowned tales as "A Scandal in Bohemia, " "The Red-Headed League, " and "The Musgrave Ritual."&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RTired of writing stories about Holmes, his creator, &&LB&&RSir Arthur Conan Doyle&&L/B&&R, killed him off at the end of "The Final Problem, " the last tale in &&LI&&RThe Memoirs&&L/I&&R. But the public outcry was so great that eight years later he published the masterful &&LI&&RThe Hound of the Baskervilles&&L/I&&R, which supposedly takes place before Holmes's death.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RThe separate &&LI&&RVolume II&&L/I&&R of &&LI&&RThe Complete Sherlock Holmes&&L/I&&R collects the remaining accounts of Holmes's exploits, including "The Adventure of the Empty House, " which reveals the elaborate circumstances behind Holmes's literary resurrection.&&LBR&&R&&L/P&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LB&&RKyle Freeman&&L/B&&R, a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast for many years, earned two graduate degrees in English literature from Columbia University, where his major was twentieth-century British literature.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R

Biography

Once, wearying of Holmes, his creator killed him off, but was forced by popular demand to resurrect him. Sir Arthur -- he had been knighted for this defense of the British cause in his The Great Boer War -- became an ardent Spiritualist after the death of his son Kingsley, who had been wounded at the Somme in World War I. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died in Sussex in 1930.

Author biography courtesy of Penguin Group (USA).