Summary: Publisher Summary 1 A fictional biography of the life and times of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes describes Holmes's influence on the political events of late-nineteenth-century England, his connections to the British criminal underworld, his close friendships with key figures of the day, and his investigations into some of his era's most infamous crimes. Reprint.   Publisher Summary 2 Describes the character's influence on the political events of late-nineteenth-century England, his connections to the British criminal underworld, and his investigations into some of his era's most infamous crimes.   Publisher Summary 3 “A clever idea cunningly executed, and a welcome addition to the library of every Holmes fan.” —The Independent He has been called a genius and a fraud, a hero and an addict. He advised kings in their glittering palaces, then disappeared into the darkest alleys of London’s criminal underworld. He was (and remains) a global icon, but who was this Sherlock Holmes? With an attention to detail that would make his subject envious, Nick Rennison gathers the clues of a life lived among the stars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from Oscar Wilde to Sigmund Freud, and uncovers startling, previously unknown information.  How did a Cambridge drop-out and bit player on the London stage transform himself into a renowned “consulting detective”? Did he know the identity of “Jack the Ripper”? When did Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty first cross paths? To where did Sherlock Holmes disappear after his presumed “death” in 1891?Sherlock Holmesanswers these questions and many more as it careens through the most infamous crimes and historic events of the era, all in pursuit of the real man behind the greatest detective in modern fiction—and, just perhaps, non-fiction.