Laurie R. King

Series: Etcetera
Published by: The Baker Street Journal
Release Date: 2011
Contributors: Edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger

 
Overview

Note: This book is no longer available.

Volume One: 1902–1959

The Grand Game is based on the lovely fantasy played by scholars and Sherlockians that Sherlock Holmes was a real person, and that the sixty Canonical tales were actually written by Dr. Watson and reflect true historical events.  Of course, the only problem is that the good doctor was frequently careless in keeping straight the dates and details from one story to the next, leaving the path open for scholars to explain the discrepancies and inconsistencies.

As a result, numerous vexing questions have stimulated the speculations of distinguished scholars for more than a century, and many of the best of these appear in this volume of classic articles covering the years 1902–1959.  It includes articles by such luminaries as Ronald Knox, A.A. Milne, Dorothy L. Sayers, Christopher Morley, Rex Stout, Anthony Boucher, Red Smith, and even Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The sixty-six articles contained in this remarkable book are among the best examples of "the grand game" to be produced during the first six decades of the twentieth century.

"If your shelves can only accommodate a handful of Sherlockian volumes, this should be one of them."
—Jon L. Breen, Mystery Scene Magazine

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Volume Two: 1960–2010

The second volume of The Grand Game, which covers the past half-century (1960–2010), completes the carefully selected sampling of the best and most important pieces of Sherlockian scholarship and speculation since the inception of "the grand game" over a century ago.

The Grand Game, Volume Two contains over 60 prime examples of Sherlockian criticism published during the last 50 years.  Like Volume One, it is edited with an introduction and commentary by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger.

The Grand Game has been both a critical and commercial success.  Volume One contained many of the classic pieces of "the higher criticism" published between 1902 and 1959.  Volume Two highlights contributions since 1960.  The first volume contained articles by many notable early Sherlockians.  There are a great many recognizable names contained in Volume Two, including William S. Baring-Gould, Tupper Bigelow,  Bernard Davies, Lord Donegal, Trevor Hall, and Michael Harrison.  Newer, important articles by Peter E. Blau, David Hammer, William Hyder, Wayne Swift, Jack Tracy and Nicholas Utechin are also collected in the new volume.