Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born in Edinburgh of Irish Catholic descent. He would write fondly of his early family life, with special affection for his mother, though his youth was blighted by the severe alcoholism of his father, who was eventually institutionalised. Conan Doyle originally trained as a physician at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, where he encountered Dr Joseph Bell, whose powers of observation would help inspire his most famous creation: Sherlock Holmes. 

Conan Doyle struggled to establish himself successfully as a doctor and, lacking patients, filled time at his practice with writing fiction for the burgeoning periodical market. Earning far more money than ever seemed likely in medicine, he soon became a professional author. 

While the Holmes stories remain a global phenomenon, Conan Doyle also worked in many other genres, including supernatural horror, historical fiction, and scientific romance. 

(1912) had an enduring impact on popular culture, helping to shape the dinosaur-adventure tradition that runs from 

Image: Arthur Conan Doyle in 1914 by Walter Benington. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.