Through a glass, darkly : Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the quest to solve the greatest mystery of all

Bechtel, Stefan, (author.). Stains, Larry, (author.).

Summary:

"After the American Civil War, while bodies still littered battlefields, the movement known as Spiritualism began to sweep across America as thousands of people, mostly from shock and grief, tried to make contact with the recently departed. The movement captivated Europe as well, especially England in the aftermath of the Great War and Great Influenza Epidemic...The movement's most famous spokesman was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Known to the world as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle underwent what many people at the time considered an enigmatic transformation, turning his back on the hyper-rational Holmes and plunging into the supernatural. What was it that convinced a brilliant man like Doyle, the creator of the great exemplar of cold, objective thought, that there was a reality beyond the reality?...Using the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a lens, Bechtel probes this largely unexplored movement, a movement rife with fraud but also full of genuine evidence that is difficult to dismiss..."-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9781250076793
ISBN: 125007679X
Physical Description: xii, 303 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 2017.
Copyright: ©2017

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-292) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

The infinite strangeness of life -- Into the unknown -- "Mister Splitfoot, do as I do!" -- The spiritual wildfire -- The invention of Sherlock Holmes -- The science of the unseen -- "Some splendid starry night" -- The Saint Paul of spiritualism -- An embarrassment of fairies -- The strangest friendship in history -- Sex, lies, and séances -- Houdini cheats...again -- "We have just begun to fight!" -- A death foretold -- The lion in winter -- Sir Arthur, is that you?