The History of Spiritualism

The Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) is best known for his creation of the character Sherlock Holmes. Trained as a medical doctor, Doyle – like many Victorian intellectuals – became fascinated by spiritualism and its promise of communication with the afterlife. Doyle was a firm believer in the movement, claiming as evidence 'sign[s] of a purposeful and organized invasion' from the spirit world. In 1926, towards the end of his life, he published this influential two-volume ...