Sherlock has become global phenomenon with huge, international popularity. It all began in the nineteenth century with Arthur Conan Doyle’s adventures of the great detective which gave rise to one of the most popular genres in fiction: the detective novel. So great is the fame of Sherlock that 221B Baker Street, the fictional residence of Sherlock Holmes, has become a shrine for devoted fans and an essential part of the London tourist map. Sherlock explores the fictional life of the detective and the real life of his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle trained in medicine, fought in the Boer War and had a deep interest in spiritualism. But his real fame came from his writing, particularly the Sherlock Holmes adventures. So popular was his creation that Doyle was forced to revive him after killing him off in 1893. Sherlock Holmes remains familiar to us all from the countless cinema, television and stage adaptations of the stories. In Sherlock, Martin Fido brings to life this enigmatic figure, the man who invented him and the astonishing era from which he came.
