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Summary
Summary
Fans of Sherlock Holmes will delight to investigate Victorian England, a world where crimes large and small abound and where dark corners and well-lit drawing rooms alike hide villainy. Through the enduring eye of Sherlock Holmes, noted historian Jeremy Black traces how Holmes and his milieu evolved in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books and how Holmes continues to resonate today. Black explores the context of Doyle's ideas and stories and why they struck such a chord with readers in London, and ultimately the world. He portrays a complex man with eclectic interests, from soccer to spiritualism, from cricket to divorce law reform. Standing twice for Parliament, Doyle was a committed meritocrat whose political experiences and values were expressed through his writings. Reading the Holmes stories through the lens of Doyle's multifaceted career, Black throws fresh light on the values expressed in them and how Holmes would have been perceived at the time. He traces the imperial strand in the Holmes stories and Doyle's treatment of America and Europe. Drawing on a masterful knowledge both of Doyle's era and his writings, this entertaining and wide-ranging book uses the Holmes stories to bring Victorian England to vibrant life, a world where crimes large and small abound and where dark corners and well-lit drawing rooms alike hide villainy. Holmes was a hero and an inspiration for many a character who redefined the idea of detection and the detective, a private man of great public importance. Here is his story.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Historian Black (A Brief History of Portugal) aims to provide in this sloppy study "a history of England both from the perspective of the Holmes stories and so as to help in their elucidation." The author explores the economics behind rebuilding sites in London as referenced in Conan Doyle's stories, describes the political controversies of the late Victorian and early Edwardian era that inform Holmes's motivations, explains Holmes's relation to society given the times (with its "emphasis on individuals and their propensity to good or evil"), and breaks down how "empire is always present in the Holmes world." But his historical analysis is marred by granular details that add little value (such as early 20th-century coal, lignite, and pig-iron production statistics). A baffling conclusion--that Holmes's "most amazing characteristic, indeed, is not his prodigious intellect but, instead, his ability to bridge social groups in appearance and behaviour"--won't resonate with most who've read the stories, and Black's larger points are lost among some other strange conclusions--for instance his comment that since villain Moriarty is described as "very tall pale," rather than "swarthy," he "certainly" could not be Jewish. Readers interested in the political and social lives of Holmes's contemporaries will be much better served by Leslie Klinger's The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. (May)
Kirkus Review
Why has Sherlock Holmes stood the test of time? The answer might not be elementary, according to this thought-provoking book. Black, a veteran historian who has published more than 180 books, is interested in why Holmes has been so popular for so long. The author, a meticulous researcher, begins with Victorian England, where most of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are set. It was a time of radical cultural change, with technology and reason supplanting religious faith and the mercantile class beginning to push the old aristocracy aside. Holmes' capacity for deductive reasoning and forensic science fit well in this milieu, and many of the villains are nouveau riche types. A surprising number of Americans, usually of the robber baron variety, wander through the pages of Doyle's stories as well. Black, while acknowledging Holmes' legendary intelligence, emphasizes that he was also a man of action, ready to don working-class disguises and fight if necessary. This duality that allowed Holmes to transcend his 19th-century origins also inspired a legion of imitators. As the stories developed, Holmes became more rounded and fully fleshed alongside his steady partner, Watson. The Holmes character is perfect for the big screen, with Basil Rathbone depicting him as a sophisticated, moral figure. Many actors have portrayed Holmes, and Robert Downey's recent version brought a broad streak of dark comedy and emphasized the Holmes-Watson relationship. In the TV series Sherlock, Holmes, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, was transplanted to modern London, and Watson's casebook morphed into a blog. The innovative series Elementary put them in New York, with Holmes as a recovering addict and Watson as his sober partner. One unfortunate omission from the book is the 2015 movie Mr. Holmes, in which Ian McKellen deftly plays Holmes as an aged, lonely figure, terrified of the dementia closing in. But this is a small point, and Black delivers an interesting, authoritative read. A detailed study that adds new depth to an iconic character. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
This book is organized around topics such as London, rural England, politics, society, and empire. The ten chapters briefly examine legislative acts, historical events, or government doings during Arthur Conan Doyle's lifetime (1859--1930) before haphazardly skipping through Doyle's stories to draw attention to particular sentences or references pertinent to the topics. A strength of the book is that Black (emer., history, Univ. of Exeter, UK) quotes from some of Doyle's non-Holmes stories as well as the Sherlock Holmes books. Unfortunately, however, the historical summaries are superficial, sometimes offering little more than names and dates, and even some of those are not presented in chronological order. The stories are not analyzed; instead, Black provides points of reference and quotes sentences from the work. The last two chapters, "The Legacy" and "Sequels," range over film and television adaptations, some of which are quite recent. Black offers no argument here, apart from the observation that in his work Doyle acknowledged features of the late Victorian world. Citations in support of data and assertions are often absent; the scant "further reading" note draws attention to surveys of the period. After more than a century, one expects the standard for discussions of Doyle's work and the Holmes stories to be higher. Summing Up: Not recommended. --Brian Diemert, Brescia University College
Table of Contents
| Preface | p. ix |
| Acknowledgements | p. xi |
| 1 Introduction: The Age of Holmes | p. 1 |
| 2 The Site for Holmes: London | p. 21 |
| 3 Holmes's Forays: Rural England | p. 45 |
| 4 Society | p. 65 |
| 5 Politics | p. 91 |
| 6 Holmes and Empire | p. 121 |
| 7 Holmes and the Americas | p. 151 |
| 8 Holmes and Europe | p. 163 |
| 9 The Legacy | p. 179 |
| 10 Sequels | p. 203 |
| Selected Further Reading | p. 213 |
| Notes | p. 215 |
| Index | p. 225 |