I did find this an interesting biography and it could have scored higher points but the value judgements about Conan Doyle's religious leaning were a little overstated. Yes, religion isn't always a rational choice but it's a personal choice, and deriding these choices isn't the place of a biographer, it's one of the things that dropped my opinion of the book, it made the story less enjoyable.

Conan Doyle was an interesting person with a lot of different life experiences and this goes through a lot of them. It gives a great flavour of his life. I felt that the end was a bit rushed, but the detail about his earlier life were great. I learned a lot about him that I'd never known and it was quite interesting.

Apart from the value judgements, which I found irritating, this book seems to have captured the feel of Conan Doyle and the times he lived in. ( )

Review: This is, I think, the first major life of Conan Doyle since Pierre Nordon's (I except Owen Dudley Edwards's and Geoffrey Stavert's superb books, each of which covers just a part of the story).
Mr Booth's book isn't perfect: there are no notes to tell us the source of any particular statement, and there's quite a number of errors (Dame Jean's name is actually Jean Lena Annette, not Lena Jean Annette; her mother was Lady Conan Doyle, not Lady Jean). However, the author offers probably as much new material as anyone can until the family papers are made accessible, and he scrupulously distinguishes between fact and informed speculation. He's also careful to acknowledge the work of his predecessors where he makes use of it.
Mr Booth's writing is a touch academic but, thank heaven, readable, and he brings home to us again his subject's greatness and great humanity.
Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 172, 1997]