Book Description

Excerpt from The Works of a Conan Doyle A Preface to a novel has appeared to me in nine cases out of ten to be a needless intrusion. A true book should explain itself, and all further explanation is superfluous. For this reason I have very seldom ventured to say anything in my own person to those who have been good enough to open my books. But now that after the lapse of years I have been asked to revise these volumes, and to throw them into a shape which will be permanent if there are any elements of permanence in the work itself, I feel that I may be less reticent. My own old life wakes up as I read these pages, and my memory recalls what I had intended, while my more mature judgment tells me where and why I have failed. It is depressing work, and yet I recognize with gratitude that many have with their own imaginations supplied the life which I had hoped to give, and have imagined that they have found when they had really brought. I am well satisfied if I can only claim to have collected the material which their own fancy can set alight. The writer of a historical novel is in a perpetual dilemma. He aims at accuracy and is dull, or he aims at liveliness and is superficial. Between the alternatives he must pick his hesitating path, and hope that those who come with him will see the thing as he does. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.