Scottish writer and master storyteller Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859. As a medical student he was so impressed by his professor?s powers of deduction that he was inspired to create the illustrious and much-loved figure Sherlock Holmes. However in contrast to his scientific background, Conan Doyle became increasingly interested in spiritualism, leaving him keen to explore other fantastical elements in stories such as The Lost World.

Jon Lellenberg is a longtime member of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, the historian of The Baker Street Irregulars in America, and the author, editor, or co-editor of a half dozen books about the life of Sherlock Holmes's creator, including 'Arthur Conan Doyle: His Life in Letters' (HarperCollins), which was a BBC Book of the Week in September 2007, and '"Dangerous Work": Diary of an Arctic Adventure' (British Library, 2012).  From 1979 to 2016 he was the U.S. representative of Dame Jean Conan Doyle, the author's daughter, and subsequently of the Conan Doyle Estate.