The Conan Doyle Historical Romances [antikvár]

M PREFACE •Y husband was intensely thorough in all his literary work. He took enormous pains to have ^everything right. For instance before writing The White Company he soaked his brain with a knowledge of the period he intended to portray. He read over sixty books dealing with heraldry—armour—falconry—the medieval habits of the peasants of that time—the social customs of the higher folk of the land, etc. Only when he knew those days as though he had lived in them—when he had got the very atmosphere steeped into his brain— did he put pen to paper and let loose the creations of his mind. That perfect knight—Sir Nigel—so human and attractive and so lovable, is an example of all that a gentleman—a true knight in life—should be, and in portraying Sir Nigel's adventurous life my husband has given a wonderful and living description of that romantic and chivalrous period of English history. His literary versatility was truly remarkable. When one considers the wide range of subjects and characters created by that one mind: His historical romances covering several different eras—his sporting novels— his poems—the detective stories—his brilliantly imaginative works, such as The Lost World, The Maracot Deep, his pirate and adventure yarns—his simple human study as embodied in The Duet—his plays—his marvellously accurate and humanly described Histories of the Boer