The creator of raffles, the most famous fictional cricketer. Ew hornung reads from raffles the amateur cracksman. Raffles is one of those characters who has gone down in literary history. Hornung, including the amateur cracksman, and rivals of sherlock holmes 2, and more on. Hornung, who was brotherinlaw to the creator of sherlock holmes, arthur conan doyle. Ew hornung was one to succeed as this audiobook ably demonstrates. Hornung also available along with many others by classic and contemporary authors. Raffles, further adventures of the amateur cracksman also published as the black mask is the second collection of stories in the raffles series. Hornung nickname willie, was a poet and english author, most famous for writing the a. The series of raffles short stories were collected for sale in book form in 1899, and two further books of raffles short stories followed, as well as a poorly received novel. This was the last book i had to read for my seminar in victorian detective fiction, so soon youll be seeing a wider variety of genres on this blog.
Sophisticated mayhem from a master of crime fiction since his friend and partner in crime, a. Raffles, a gentleman thief in late victorian great britain. Raffles further adventures of the amateur cracksman e. W download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Hornung, brotherinlaw to sir arthur conan doyle, the creator of sherlock holmes. Raffles, the suave gentleman who plays cricket by the day, gives him a patient hearing.
Raffles was a joy to me then and, unlike other books of my youth, a joy still. Biographer peter rowland writes that raffles and manders were also fictionalised versions of. Hornung unexpurgated edition halcyon classics kindle edition by hornung, e. Ernest william hornung 7 june 1866 22 march 1921, known professionally as e. There is an excellent web site that has extensive, highquality annotations of all the raffles stories by e. Hornung, a brother in law of arthur conan doyle, conceived raffles to be the criminal counterpart to sherlock holmes, but the novelty of taking the criminals point of view made these stories intriguing in their own right. Ew hornung, ernest william, was born in yorkshire, england, on 7th june 1866. He lives in albany in picca dilly, and as one of englands finest cricketers. Not just any thief, mind you, but a gentleman thief, a decent expublic schoolboy who played cricket for england, lived in the albany and nicked the odd necklace on the weekend. In addition to his novels and short stories hornung wrote some war verse, and a play based on the raffles stories was produced successfully.
Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19thcentury london. Ernest william hornung june 1866 march was an english author, most famous for writing the raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late victorian london. A fabulous character who, sadly, seems to have been almost forgotten about by readers today. The author was a contemporary of conan doyle, and in many ways, raffles is an antisherlock.
Read raffles further adventures of the amateur cracksman by e. Raffles, the amateur cracksman hardcover large print, 1 mar 1991. Heres a virtual movie of the english author ew hornung virtualy reading a small excerpt from his most famous series of novels raffles the amateur cracksman the ides of. Peter joyce varies his likable voice well for the various characters. The attraction of ew hornung s character, who first appeared in 1899, was that he led not just a double but a triple. Ernest william hornung was born 7 june 1866 at cleveland villas, marton, middlesbrough, england. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read raffles. Why settle down to some humdrum uncongenial billet, when excitement, romance, danger and a decent living were all going begging together a. He married arthur conan doyles sister constance, traveled widely, and played cricket. Its time ew hornung s great crime creation emerged from the shadow of sherlock holmes. In addition to his novels and short stories hornung wrote some war verse, and a play based. The amateur cracksman by ernest william hornung free at. Hornung is most famous for writing the raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late victorian london. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the complete raffles collection by e.
Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of holmes he is a gentleman thief, living at the albany, a prestigious address in london, playing cricket as a gentleman or amateur for the gentlemen of. Hornung was an english author and poet, known for writing the a. Hornung this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. Raffles, the gentleman thief book 2 kindle edition by hornung, e. We personally assess every books quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures.
In any case, though, raffles is an interesting read. The attraction of ew hornungs character, who first appeared in 1899, was that he led not just a double but a triple. Hornung penned a trilogy of raffles collections must surely have come as a delightful surprise to raffles many avid readers, given the seemingly conclusive finale to 1901s. Hornung 18661921 created raffles the gentleman burglar, hero of the amateur cracksman 1899 and mr.
Raffles further adventures of the amateur cracksman, ew. Hornung wrote a series of twentysix short stories and one novel about the adventures of arthur j. It would be impossible to read the amateur cracksman the first of e. Raffles, along with his faithful cohort, bunny manders.
Hornung and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Raffles by ew hornungraffles is as ingenious as holmes and his schemes make gripping stories, writes alice fisher. He is best known for his main series character, aj raffles, the gentleman cracksman. A thief in the night is a short story collection and hornungs third book in the raffles series. Throughout the late nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century detective and mystery fiction were dominated by one character as never before or since. Raffles, a british gentleman and cricket player who resorts to crime for profit and excitement. Raffles and his sidekick and chronicler bunny without comparing it to the sherlock holmes books. The adventures of raffles by ew hornung read by peter. Further adventures of the amateur cracksman also known as the black mask 10 short stories from a thief in the night. Aj raffles for those of you not fully up to speed was the creation of latevictorian writer ew hornung, and he was a thief.
In many ways, raffles is an inversion of holmes, he has his own watson in the form of harry bunny manders, and he is a master of disguise. Hornung, was the brotherinlaw of arthur conan doyle, and in fact, this book is dedicated to doyle. He can imitate the regional speech of many parts of britain flawlessly, and is fluent in italian. This production includes the first six of the sixteen linked stories in raffles, the amateur cracksman, the adventures of a. Originally published in the strand magazine, where he was second in popularity only to the legendary sherlock holmes, these stories introduced the world to antihero gentleman cricketer and thief, a. In all cases, the uk editions precede the american. This unexpurgated edition contains the complete text with errors and omissions corrected.
The amateur cracksman is the first collection of stories about a. Raffles is a fictional character created in 1898 by e. Hornung 18661921, author of dead men tell no tales 1897 and creator of raffles the amateur cracksman 1899. Hornung was arthur conan doyles brotherinlaw, and wrote his stories of raffles, gentleman thief, as a counter to the more famous sherlock holmes. After the dark turn of events at the end of the gift of the emperor, bunnys done his time and, his life not being quite what it was before, now finds himself longing for the companionship of his. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th century l. Its time for aj raffles to emerge from the shadow of. Hes also quite typical of the sillyassery school of the time. The amateur cracksman further adventures of the amateur. As a child he was quite sicklyhe developed severe asthma and due to shortsightedness needed to wear glasses. He is courted during the day by the great, the rich and the fashionable, and invited to their houses. Collection of sixteen adventures featuring raffles the great gentleman thief. Hornung, along with original illustrations from when the stories were first serialized, maps of locations mentioned in the stories, etc.
Hornung and ives both played cricket for the authors cricket club. Ernest william hornung known as willie, was an english author, most famous for writing the raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late victorian london. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading raffles. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The amateur cracksman was the original short story collection by e. Aside from his raffles stories, hornung was a prodigious writer of fiction, publishing numerous books from 1890, with a bride from the bush to his 1914 novel the crime doctor. Raffles, cricketeer and gentleman thief, and his chronicler, harry bunny manders. Raffles, gentleman, finest slow bowler of his generation and shameless thief. Justice raffles 1909 and wrote many other adventure stories published in magazines and in book form. The gentleman thief is a literary favourite, and one of the. After stopping his old school friend, bunny manders, from a desperate attempt at suicide, raffles introduces the unsuspecting bunny to a.
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