The Sherlock Holmes Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained (DK Big Ideas)

Most of the reviews are for other products. This is a wonderful book. It isn't the Holmes stories. Still a five star book. The book is laid out to give an overview of Doyle himself and narratives on major characters - Sherlock, Watson, Moriarity, Lestrade. Each description running from five to ten pages each. Followed by well written descriptions of each of the adventures, the four novels. A nice side work of what was happening in Doyle's life and world events etc. There are lots of full color illustrations and black and white photographs included. The descriptive breakdown of each story help fans with insights into what's going on in each story. There are some good pieces on the influence that Doyle's writings and characters continue to have on his readers and other writers as well. A really well done work on the subject. Very interesting reading.

This book begins with a short bio of Conon Doyle and then goes over all things, Sherlock. It discusses the short stories and novels. Then it goes over Holmes, influence on the detective genre. In the end, it went over all the adaptions of the stories through the years as well as other characters that were parodies of Holmes. It was a great way to show the history of a literary character that is as popular today as he was in Conan Doyle's time. Great book any Sherlock Holmes fan would love and a great jumping-off place for new fans to see the magnitude of the character.

This book, by a team of several authors, includes an outline of Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes stories, along with information on Doyle's life and the background for his work. As a lifelong fan of Holmes, I value this excellent reference work. However, the Kindle version has a number of problems. There were quite a few (almost two dozen) "pages" missing - I would tap to turn the page and it would be blank (sometimes for several "pages"), only picking up after I had clearly missed some of the text. The book includes a number of illustrations and diagrams - some of which could be enlarged for easier reading, and some of which could not. For Holmes fans, it would be worth purchasing a paper copy of this fine work. Something - indeed, quite a bit - is lost in the translation to ebook format.

It's pretty thorough but it is also opinionated about the era in which these stories were written (being critical of Doyle while also acknowledging how progressive he was), and contains errors. They label Holmes an asexual, and they refer to Eustace Brackenstall as "Bracknell" in the section "The Legend Returns". If they could do more thorough editing and remain unbiased in their facts, this would be a decent encyclopedia. The thing is, encyclopedias are supposed to report facts as they are without opinions or theories, something lost on DK in this instance. The graphic design is impeccable and the charts and photos do a great job of providing backdrops and explanations for anything either cultural puzzling or puzzling to everyone but Holmes himself. Everything aside, I am happy I bought this. It's a decent companion alongside the Annotated and New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. I recommend getting this in a physical format, as the ebook version seems incapable of rendering the graphic design as beautifully as it is laid out on print. It wasn't made to be an ebook.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this book, but I was quite pleasantly surprised as I read through it. It is a brief summary of all the Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as a including historical reference and biographical information on the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reading the Sherlock Holmes stories after have this overview will provide invaluable perspective and I know make me appreciate them much more. If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, you should read this book.

Loved The short stories and The brief descriptions. The photos are a plus. I want to read it again. A Judy have for any fan.

So many insightful information on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's super sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. To those who are lazy enough reading long sentences or paragraphs, this book is a heaven sent with short and concise information plus wonderful photos and images. Love the fact that one of the main contributors of the book's content is Mr. David Stuart Davies, the writer who wrote that amazing biography of the legendary yet underrated British actor, Mr. Jeremy Brett, called "Bending the Willow." Mr. Jeremy Brett was my number one idol during my childhood and teenage years, the most beloved British actor EVER to play Sherlock Holmes in the Granada Series on ITV UK (1984-1994). He died peacefully on September 12, 1995, aged 61, due to heart failure caused by the medication of his manic depression/bipolar disease. Gone too soon. So happy to find several beautiful pictures of Mr. Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in this book. He was and still IS the Sherlock Holmes. For me, he IS forever my definitive Sherlock Holmes.

This is a great book, chock full of information about Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, with tons of beautiful illustrations, diagrams,maps, timelines, etc. It also includes a synopsis of all the original S.H. stories and novels. This book would make a great gift for any Great Detective fan, regardless of their age. Definitely something that they would want to hold on to for reference and as a keepsake.

Da appassionato di Sherlock Holmes, ho trovato questo questo volume veramente molto bello e ben fatto. Le pagine illustrate e divise in colori diversi danno un’interessante prospettiva riguardo quello che concerne Arthur Conan Doyle e Sherlock Holmes

Wasn’t the purchase I originally expected (completely changes when you switch between hardback, paperback etc) but I LOVE it.

David Stuart Davies ist vielen Holmes-Fans sicher ein Begriff, da er die britische Ausgabe der klassischen Geschichten vom Wordsworth-Verlag editiert und ein führendes Mitglied der "Baker Street Irregulars" ist, des meines Wissens ältesten Sherlock-Holmes-Fanclubs. Und Davies hat eine gute, leicht lesbare, aber keineswegs banale Schreibe, eben genau wie Doyle selbst. Mit Conan Doyles Kurzbiographie geht die Darstellung auch los, danach folgt eine kurze Beschreibung von Holmes und Watson, anschließend geht der Autor dann ins Detail und beschäftigt sich akribisch mit jedem einzelnen Werk, angefangen mit "A Study in Scarlet". Später ist auch Doyle nochmal genauer ein Thema, sein Verhältnis zu seiner Kunstfigur und seine Begeisterung für den Spiritismus (hierbei wird auch die Geschichte um die Cottingley Fairies behandelt). Am Ende gibt es natürlich auch noch Kapitel über Pastiches und moderne Adaptionen, auch "Sherlock" mit Benedict Cumberbatch. Ein toller Schmöker für alle, die Holmes lieben und besonders die Original-Geschichten. Hoffentlich wird das Buch auch ins Deutsche übersetzt, denn auch im deutschsprachigen Raum hat Sherlock Holmes viele Fans.

Excellent book & a joy to read. Fills in a lot of info.

Este livro é considerado o mais completo sobre Sherlock Holmes. Se voce é fã do detetive e possui um certo domínio do idioma inglês, certamente, ele vai lhe interessar. Por sinal, seria muito bem-vinda uma edição em português, já que é indiscutível o sucesso do protagonista em nosso país. Lançado em 2015 pela DK Publishing, um selo da Penguin Random House, trata-se do resultado da colaboração de vários escritores, críticos de cinema e jornalistas. Reunindo uma série de informações relevantes, até mesmo surpreendentes, sua edição em capa-dura distingue-se pela boa diagramação e o projeto visual bem planejado composto de fotos, gráficos e ilustrações, inclusive, algumas raras cujo autor é Sidney Paget, criador de alguns traços característicos da personagem, como o indefectível chapéu de caçador. Prefaciado Leslie Kinger, uma das maiores autoridades sobre o detetive, logo nas primeiras páginas, o leitor terá à disposição não só a biografia do mais famoso morador da Baker Street mas também de Arthur Conan Doyle, Dr. John Watson, Professor James Moriarty e o Inspetor G. Lestrade. Em seguida, obedecendo a ordem cronológica, são apresentados 5 capítulos dedicados a todos os romances e contos, indo de “A Study in Scarlet” (1887) até “The Aventure of Shoscombe Old Place” (1927). Este material amplia o entendimento das histórias, por exemplo, qual foi a lenda que inspirou “O Cão dos Baskervilles”? De onde surgiu a ideia de usar as Cataratas de Reichenbach em “O Problema Final”? Ainda há mais um capítulo, “The World of Sherlock Holmes”, que aborda temas como o mundo vitoriano, a arte da dedução e os demais trabalhos de Conan Doyle. Enfim, ele encerra com chave de ouro as 352 páginas dedicadas a uma das mais icônicas personagens da literatura. Nota: Quando adquiri o livro, não havia para pronta-entrega. Tive de encomendar e aguardar a chegada, mas valeu a pena. Cinco estrelas!