Sherlock Holmes

Selected Stories

Second Edition

Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Barry McCrea

Oxford World's Classics

A new selection of a dozen of the best Sherlock Holmes stories, which sees Holmes at work from the beginning to the end of his career, together with a lively introduction and additional background material.
This selection covers the full range of Holmes stories, including country house mysteries, city mysteries, and political tales, as well as the book-length The Sign of the Four.
Introduction by Barry McCrea examines the reasons for the stories' enduring popularity, the 'science of deduction', the late Victorian and Edwardian context, and Holmes's rich afterlife on stage, page, and screen.
Chronology and Explanatory Notes provide further historical context.
Up-to-date Bibliography.
Texts taken from the Oxford Sherlock Holmes collections.
The only anthology of stories from across the Sherlock Holmes series, and the only edition with attractive additional features, including introduction and notes.

Sherlock Holmes

Selected Stories

Second Edition

Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Barry McCrea

Description

'Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science'

For more than a century the Holmes stories have held a strange, almost inexplicable grip on the popular imagination. They are intimately associated with late Victorian and Edwardian society, yet curiously timeless in their appeal. The characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, together with their housekeeper Mrs Hudson and their address at 221B Baker Street are as familiar today as when they made their first appearance in the late 1880s. The stories have been endlessly interpreted, adapted, and modernized, but still we return to Arthur Conan Doyle's originals.

This new selection of some of the best of Sherlock Holmes is designed to give readers a full sense of his world: the brooding fog of London, ruined heirs in creaking mansions, and hidden crimes in the farthest-flung corners of the British Empire. The stories take Holmes's career from its early days to its end, and include the book-length Sign of the Four. Barry McCrea's introduction investigates the currents that lie beneath the surface.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Sherlock Holmes

Selected Stories

Second Edition

Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Barry McCrea

Oxford World's Classics

Introduction
Note on the Text
Select Bibliography
A Chronology of Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of the Four
A Scandal in Bohemia
The Red-Headed League
A Case of Identity
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Blue Carbuncle
The Speckled Band
The Musgrave Ritual
The Greek Interpreter
The Dancing Men
The Six Napoleons
His Last Bow
Explanatory Notes

Sherlock Holmes

Selected Stories

Second Edition

Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Barry McCrea

Oxford World's Classics

Author Information

Barry McCrea taught at Yale before moving to the University of Notre Dame. His novel, The First Verse was published in 2005; his most recent work is In the Company of Strangers: Family and Narrative in Dickens, Conan Doyle, Joyce, and Proust (Columbia UP, 2011).

Sherlock Holmes

Selected Stories

Second Edition

Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Barry McCrea

Oxford World's Classics

From Our Blog

How well do you know Sherlock Holmes? [quiz]

Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous detectives of all time. The detective featured in 4 novels and 56 short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is a regular figure in modern day culture; Holmes has been portrayed on stage, radio, film and television for over a century, most recently by Sir Ian McKellan in the 2015 film, Mr. Holmes.

Posted on September 9, 2015

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Sherlock Holmes' beginnings

Here at Oxford University Press we occasionally get the chance to discover a new and exciting piece of literary history. We're excited to share the newest short story addition to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries in Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories. Never before published, our editorial team has acquired The Mystery of the Green Garden, now believed to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first use of the Sherlock Holmes' character in his writing. Written during Doyle's time at Stonyhurst College before entering medical school, the short story displays an early, amateur style of writing not seen in his later published works.

Posted on April 1, 2014

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