In the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes

by Michael Harrison

Hardback book with dust jacket titled IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Michael Harrison. (LL-Art-1-top)

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Travel, History

292 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Michael Harrison was the pen name of English detective fiction and fantasy author Maurice Desmond Rohan. Harrison published seventeen novels between 1934 and 1954, when he turned to writing detective fiction. He wrote pastiches of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Poe's C. Auguste Dupin, and was a noted Sherlock Holmes scholar.

Reviews

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Treating the fictional Sherlock Holmes as a real person trekking through the well-researched and verifiable streets of Victorian and Edwardian London is not new. It was done even in Conan Doyle's lifetime, and quite ably in Vincent Starrett's most famous book The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1933). And Michael Harrison does it here again in In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, first published in 1958 (revised in 1971), and, if nothing else, the book very much lives up to its title, following Holmes step by step through his career, from humble beginnings as the scion of a squire's lineage to one of London's most celebrated and respected figures. As to those other commentaries on Holmes' life, Harrison admits to being cognizant of them, but refutes their influence: "I am quite aware that such commentaries exist, as I can recite a list of their distinguished authors...But while Mr Jay Finley Christ's Sherlockian concordance An Irregular Guide to Sherlock Holmes...has been of inestimable use to me, I deliberately refrained from reading the commentaries of other writers: I wished to make my own investigation into the origins, background and motives of Sherlock Holmes, to draw my own conclusions, and to present my own theories for which I -- and I alone -- should be held accountable. That being said, Harrison's book possesses all the strengths and many of the weaknesses one has to expect from a treatise prepared in a vacuum, untainted by the opinions of others, but also not benefiting from other researchers' errors and misconceptions. Harrison's reconstruction of the life of Sherlock Holmes is based almost entirely on the writings of Dr John H Watson and Harrison's own extensive knowledge of London history and English mores. Harrison not only interprets Watson's stories, but second-guesses the doctor, and even points out where the doctor made mistakes and why; additionally, he inserts sequences which, although unrecorded by Watson, must have happened in one form or another, such as Holmes' arrival in the capital by railway, the fact that he had to have departed the terminal in a cab, and that he certainly would have had to have contact with a porter and a cabby -- here, Harrison relies as much on his knowledge of the neuroses of the English middle-middle class as the common knowledge that porters are tipped and that cab fares at the time were subject to negotiation. Harrison's digressions, and there are many of them, range from the English's reticence to mentioning money, to how his grandfather wrote an "8" and a double-s, to railway politics, to the alcohol content of hops. Although some people might find such digressions distracting, I found them quite illuminating. Harrison reveals a Sherlock Holmes who is very much a man his class and times, while at the same time a man like no other who has trod London's chartered streets, an heroic figure who embodies all the best of the Victorian world, and very little of the worst, a paragon who is very much a human being. Though neither the first nor last word in Holmesian research, Harrison's book is a mandatory read for anyone interested in Sherlock Holmes as he existed beyond the stories, if only because of its thorough exploration of Holmes' life in its entirety. And while one can contest or quibble about many of Harrison interpretations, conjectures or theories (I certainly do), there is no denying the quality of his scholarship and knowledge. If this book is not on your Sherlock Holmes bookshelf, then that shelf is incomplete.

[Max Rudd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great resource and a must read for Holmes fans. The author's style meanders in places but this doesn't detract from the knowledge imparted.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

You must be an avid fan of the Holmes canon to enjoy this tour of the London of that time and what is looks like in the present day (well, not really present since the book was published in 1976 and things have changed dramatically in London since 1976). The author has done impeccable research and leads us through the places that Holmes fan know from the stories.....pubs, hotels, tailor shops, mews, and alleyways. The book is a little dry in places and will not interest the casual reader of the Conan-Doyle masterpieces but is a fun read for the devotee.

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A marvellous volume, meticulously researched, exploring in depth just about anything and everything to do with the world of Sherlock Holmes. A must-have for fans of the stories

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ridiculously and meticulously researched. Spends a little too much time discussing London road conditions. Otherwise, brilliant!

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very good reference book that provides background on Sherlock Holmes's London.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: treating Holmes as if he was a real person, the author discovers a wealth of material about Holmes' life and times.