Arthur Doyle

Born in Edinburgh on May 22, 1859, Arthur Conan Doyle trained as a physician before literature became his main calling. He created Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, characters who helped shape modern detective fiction and made him one of the most widely read writers of his time.

Doyle did much more than write mysteries. He published historical fiction, adventure stories, science fiction including The Lost World, and nonfiction on subjects that mattered deeply to him. His career shows a writer with broad interests, restless energy, and a talent for telling a gripping story in many different forms.

He was knighted in 1902 and remained a major public figure as well as a bestselling author. Doyle died in Crowborough, England, on July 7, 1930, but his fiction—especially the Holmes stories—has never gone out of print and continues to win new readers.