The End of Lord Barrymore

The collection of the famous English writer Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) includes twenty-five stories, remarkable for their variety of themes. In each, the author demonstrates his extraordinary writing skills, unusually twisting an intriguing plot. All texts are given in the translation of Dmitry Mochnev. The book is decorated with illustrations that appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on the pages of various periodicals that first published Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. Arthur Conan Doyle's love for literature was instilled in him by his mother since childhood - in hundreds of letters to her, he polished his style. At the Jesuit Stonyhurst College, a group of enthusiastic listeners invariably gathered around the young Doyle - Arthur easily improvised, composing another intriguing story on the fly. In 1881, Doyle graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and soon opened a private practice in Portsmouth, but the young doctor had few patients. While away the time and trying to improve his financial situation, Doyle decided to seriously take up literature. And he was right! Arthur Conan Doyle will forever remain in history as the creator of the immortal image of the insightful detective Sherlock Holmes. But the writer's literary legacy is much broader than "Holmesiana", which began in 1886 with the story "A Study in Scarlet". Doyle believed that his true calling was historical novels. He wrote the novel "Exiles", which described the events in France at the end of the 17th century. Doyle dedicated the novel "The White Company" to the events of the Hundred Years' War. The action of his novel "The Adventures of Micah Clarke" takes place during the overthrow of King James II. The subject matter of Doyle's other literary works is very diverse. He wrote on social and everyday topics and paid tribute to science fiction. In the second half of his life, Doyle became interested in mysticism, and this motive did not leave the writer until the end of his days. In the stories included in this book, Doyle demonstrates his inexhaustible talent as an inventor. The themes of these literary miniatures are bets, eccentricities, practical jokes and deceptions. The first story of the collection describes how Lord Barrymore, thanks to a talented practical joke, was made a laughing stock for the entire city. The story "The End of Signor Lambert's Career" tells of the most sophisticated revenge in the world. With the dexterity of a magician, Doyle fishes out of his head one plot funnier than the other. For example, he tells what incredible consequences can result from replacing one recording cylinder in a phonograph with another, or how a perpetual motion machine invented by two partners helps get rid of a corpse. And after reading the story "A Disgraceful Act in the Carabinieri Regiment", you will learn why Major Errington stubbornly tried to lose himself at cards. Each story in the collection surprises with an unusual plot twist. The publication is decorated with drawings by several artists who illustrated Doyle's stories that appeared on the pages of various periodicals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thanks to these illustrations, you can look at Conan Doyle's stories through the eyes of his contemporaries.