Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are commonly considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction. He was a fruitful writer whose other works include historical novels, science fiction stories, plays and romances, poetry and non-fiction. Doyle's stories were a strong influence on writers such as Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen and the many others who have created tightly constructed puzzles for their detectives to solve with closely reasoned analysis. «The Complete Brigadier Gerard» is a series of comic short stories with Brigadier Gerard as the hero. As a hussar in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars, Gerard's most notable attribute is his vanity—he is utterly convinced he is the bravest soldier, most accomplished horseman and the best and most gallant lover in all France. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in making his hero a vain and uncomprehending Frenchman, was able to satirize both the stereotypical English view of the French, and by presenting them from Gerard's point of view, English manners and attitudes.
