An Entirely New Country - Arthur Conan Doyle, Undershaw and the Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes [Paperback]

Alistair Duncan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2011

The late 1890s saw Arthur Conan Doyle return to England after several years abroad. His new house, named Undershaw, represented a fresh start but it was also the beginning of a dramatic decade that saw him fall in love, stand for parliament, fight injustice and be awarded a knighthood. However, for his many admirers, the most important event of that decade was the resurrection of Sherlock Holmes - the character that he felt had cast a shadow over his life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'It was evident from his first book Eliminate the Impossible that Alistair Duncan writes well, that he writes with knowledge and enthusiasm, and that he thinks about what he writes. His subsequent books, Close to Holmes and The Norwood Author, did more than just confirm that impression: they established him as an important commentator on Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous creation. After exploring the years when Conan Doyle lived in Norwood - surprisingly neglected by previous biographers, even though it was then that he became truly famous - Mr Duncan has turned his attention to the author's next decade, perhaps the most turbulent of his life. Undershaw, the house that Conan Doyle had built at Hindhead, was his home from 1897 to 1907. He wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Nigel, The Return of Sherlock Holmes and much else at Undershaw. The house saw the end of his first marriage and the beginning of his second. He was resident here when he became Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Yet, despite its cultural and architectural importance, Undershaw currently stands empty, vandalised and neglected. Read An Entirely New Country and you'll understand just why the Undershaw years were so important - Sherlock Holmes Journal (Sherlock Holmes Society of London) 'Alistair Duncan knows his Arthur Conan Doyle stuff. This excellent observation of the "Undershaw" period of Conan Doyle's life follows his previous fine appraisal of the "Norwood" period. Duncan covers the gamut of Conan Doyle's public and private life and comments fairly on what he sees as the noble and flawed aspects of his character.' Bill Barnes, Sydney Passengers This charming book stands not only as a testament to a crucial and hugely productive period in the life of one of our greatest storytellers but as a proud call to arms for his houses preservation. [saveundershaw.com] - Mark Gatiss (BBC Sherlock)

About the Author

Alistair Duncan is the author of three earlier books on the world of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle. 'Eliminate the Impossible' is a study of the world of Sherlock Holmes on page and screen. 'Close to Holmes' is a look at locations in London with links to the Great Detective and his creator. 'The Norwood Author' examines the life of Conan Doyle during the short period he spent living in South Norwood between 1891 and 1894. Alistair Duncan is a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, The Sydney Passengers and the Arthur Conan Doyle (Crowborough) Establishme

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: MX Publishing (December 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1908218193
• ISBN-13: 978-1908218193
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,055,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan since I was introduced to Basil Rathbone in 1982. I was initially content to remain a fan until 2007 when I took it upon myself to pen a book on the subject.

This was "Eliminate the Impossible" which came out in February 2008 and looks at the stories and many of the actors to have donned the deerstalker.

Not content with one book I immediately began work on a second and "Close to Holmes" was published in February 2009.

"The Norwood Author" was published in March 2010. This book looks at the years in which Arthur Conan Doyle lived in South Norwood.

My next book is entitled "An Entirely New Country" and will look at Conan Doyle's years living in Hindhead, Surrey. It is due for release on December 5th 2011.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Detailed March 26, 2012

By Leah G

Format:Paperback

Many Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts try their hand at writing pastiche (Holmes-related fiction). Alistair Duncan has taken the "road less travelled" and dedicated himself to writing biographies which connect Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to his personal geography--be it London, Norwood, or now, Undershaw.

Doyle built Undershaw (located near Hindhead, Surrey) in hopes of providing his beloved wife Louise a home in a climate which would provide her some relief from advanced tuberculosis. The family had spent the past couple of years in Egypt and Switzerland, looking for dry air and high altitudes. Family friend Grant Allen's recommendation that they try Surrey gave them the chance to return to England and raise their two children, Mary and Kingsley, with minimal disruptions.

Doyle's 10 years at Undershaw (which did, ultimately, extend Louise's life) were eventful ones. Duncan follows the author's life chronologically, giving the reader glimpses of both the mundane (depending on how you view cricket and golf) and the momentous (Hound of the Baskervilles, anyone?), with plenty of wry observations on both. While many biographers succumb to the charm of their subject, Duncan keeps a clear and objective eye, giving us a real Doyle, warts and all--particularly important as this book covers what became his complex romantic life. Here, Duncan is honest and perceptive in describing Doyle's actions and their impact upon his family.

Readers also get to see the political Doyle, and the military one, as this era includes his service in the 2nd Boer War. We see fact meet fiction as Doyle investigates the strange case (and it is pretty outré) of George Edalji. Most interesting to Sherlockians, however, will be the play-by-play descriptions of how Sherlock Holmes ended up onstage, how the Hound of the Baskervilles was born and, how, thank Heaven, an ambitious young magazine editor finally persuaded Doyle to end the Great Hiatus.

Duncan crams detail, humour, and perception into a relatively short work, complete with photos and a look at Undershaw today. Anyone interested in 19th century Britain, historic preservation (Undershaw is currently the subject of a dramatic legal battle), literature, Doyle, or (of course) Sherlock Holmes, will find this book fills a valuable gap in their shelves....

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious and Acute January 20, 2012

By Jaime N. Mahoney

Format:Paperback

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle often seems to be as much of an enduring icon as the character he created--timeless, mythic, even larger-than-life. In "An Entirely New Country," Alistair Duncan strips all of that away, and reveals someone who was very real, and lived in a very human way. He had very real failings, and very human desires and insecurities. And if Doyle's reasons for resurrecting Sherlock Holmes were purely fiscal, rather than fanciful, then Duncan helps his reader to accept those reasons. Because it doesn't matter why Doyle chose to resurrect Sherlock Holmes, it only matters that he did. By focusing solely on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's years at Undershaw, Alistair Duncan provides the necessary framework and context to some of Doyle's most significant moments and decisions. The specificity of his project was ambitious, but Duncan fulfilled those demands and expectations in spades.

4.0 out of 5 stars An Entirely New Country February 13, 2013

By Margaret Whitmer

Format:Paperback

An Entirely New Country
Type of material: Trade Paperback
Publisher: MX Publishing, London
Year: 2012
Author: Alistair Duncan

This book covers the 10 years (1897-1907) that Arthur Conan Doyle lived at Undershaw, the stately home he built at Hindhead in Surrey, and where he lived with his first wife Louis "Touie" Hawkins Doyle and their two children, Mary and Kingsley. This is Duncan's sequel to The Norwood Author, a 2011 Howlett Literary Award winning book that covers Doyle's life from 1891-94.

The important years covered by this book include the launching of actor William Gillette as the world's embodiment of Holmes due to his smash hit play "Sherlock Holmes." The play was written by Gillette, but began as a play written by Doyle himself.

These years also saw the writing of arguably the greatest Gothic mystery of all time - The Hound of the Baskervilles - and ultimately the resurrection of The Great Detective himself with the publishing of what would eventually become the collection of short stories known as "The Return of Sherlock Holmes." One gathers that, despite Doyle's proclaimed dislike of his famous hero, even he was not content to let sleeping detectives lie.

These pivotal subjects are handled fairly well, as is Doyle's extensive involvement in the Boer War. Other important topics, however, I felt were rather glossed over. For example, it was during this time Doyle campaigned to clear parcee solicitor George Edalji of a charge of maliciously wounding a pony; but the broader issues of racism that surrounded this volatile subject were rather downplayed, leaving Doyle's zeal somewhat without a platform.

We learn that during this period Doyle's wife Louise finally succumbs to her longstanding fight with tuberculosis, but apart from that, we learn very little about their home life together or about her as a person. And, other than learning that Doyle carried on a not-very-private courtship of his second wife Jean Leckie, all the while Louise was still alive, we learn few details about her, either. I was quite interested to learn that during this time Doyle toured the scene of the Jack the Ripper crimes yet, apart from one sentence mentioning that, I learn nothing more about it here.

Each chapter of this book represents one of the 10 years covered and events are recorded chronologically. Duncan makes meticulous use of newspaper clippings, Doyle's diary entries and personal memorabilia provided by the family and there is an ample supply of photographs. Occasionally the author indulges in speculation if the information available to him is ambiguous or if there is an obvious gap in the record; otherwise, the author's journalistic, "just-the-facts" approach to his subject is somewhat dry. I suppose Sherlock Holmes would applaud Duncan's not putting too much color and life into his narrative but I think I should have preferred a more Watsonian approach!

To his credit, his footnotes and bibliography are both excellent, so if one wanted to learn more about Doyle's life with his first family than is provided here, one could perhaps pick up a copy of Out of the Shadows by Georgina Doyle, widow of John Doyle, the son of Arthur's brother Innes. Or, if one wished to learn more about the Edalji case, one could pick up a copy of Julian Barnes's 2005 novel Arthur & George, Gordon Weaver's Conan Doyle and the Parson's Son: The George Edalji Case or Outrage: The Edalji Five and the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes by Roger Oldfield.

For these reasons, I would categorize this more as a useful reference book, although rather limited as an actual biography. Its chronological layout makes it perfectly useful in that respect. It is worth noting that Duncan is a fervent supporter of the Undershaw Preservation Trust, an organization that is in the process of restoring Doyle's home Undershaw to serve as a museum dedicated to Doyle and to Sherlock Holmes. It is a monumental undertaking, and Duncan has pledged a percentage of the royalties from this book to the project.

Mark Gatiss - actor, screenwriter, novelist, co-producer with Steven Moffat of the smash hit BBC series "Sherlock" and Patron of Undershaw since December 2010 provides a worthy foreward to this book.

Reviewed by: By Margaret Whitmer, February, 2013