Cheap The Collected Raffles Stories (Oxford Popular Fiction) (Book) (E. W. Hornung, Clive Bloom) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Collected Raffles Stories (Oxford Popular Fiction)

the gentleman thief
Raffles was the creation of E.W. Hornung, brother-in-law to Holmes's creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Hornung took the detective pair, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and reincarnated them on the wrong side of the law as Raffles and Bunny, who pursued the business of getting a living by entirely logical methods of stealing it. Raffles was a man-about-town and famous cricketer by day and a master burglar by night. He takes Bunny on as his assistant, and together they lead a lift of gentleman criminals. They use their connections as gentlemen to sniff out new opportunities. Raffles uses many ruses to steal, which lead varied interesting stories for us to read. He convinces readers to throw away their scruples and follow along for wit, bold adventures, and thrilling suspense. <
> These stories are very exciting. They allure me to follow up what's in the next line. Reading these stories is to enjoy the thrills in every page. They make me want to know what techniques and ruses that the gentleman thief will use in each situation. So if you are looking for a fascinating reading, this is the book for you. <
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The quintessential English "gentleman" thief
Raffles rates with Sherlock Holmes: same period: turn of 19th/20th Century, very "English", albeit less of an eccentric than Holmes, but, as with those sherlock Holmes stories, the Raffles tales create a world of their own, close to but not quite the same as the real one of historical "fact".

Where Raffles parts company from Holmes is in, of course, the fact that he is on "the other side", a thief, though a very stylish one and with all the acquired gloss of the English gentleman, a gloss tarnished a bit when he "nicks" stuff from houses in which he is a guest...hm...However, he is a patriot and an aesthete par excellence, as when he takes off with a priceless urn from the British Museum, only to keep it openly on his mantlepiece (until sending it as a present to, if I recall aright, the Queen!) (Victoria, that is).

Regrettably neglected, Raffles deserves a revival.