Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859–7 July 1930} was a Scottish doctor and author.^[1][2] He is well known because he wrote short stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes. He also wrote science fiction and historical stories. 

 He studied medicine at Edinburgh University in 1876 to 1881. He wrote short stories in his spare time. In 1882, he started working as a doctor in Southsea. He carried on writing short stories while he waited for patients. His first Sherlock Holmes story that was published was A Study in Scarlet.

Doyle's great gifts as a writer were story-telling and character. He created really memorable characters. Holme's gift for deduction has been copied many times in fiction. The character was probably based on a doctor called Joseph Bell. Holmes himself and Watson were balanced by the evil genius Moriarty, one of the great villains in fiction. In The Lost World, Professor Challenger was another larger-than-life character.

After A Study in Scarlet came The Sign of the Four, The Valley of Fear and The Hound of the Baskervilles. The other Holmes stories were published in the Strand Magazine. They were later collected together in five volumes, starting with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. 

Doyle's wife Louisa died in 1906. After the death of his son Kingsley just before the end of the First World War, and the deaths of his brother Innes, his two brothers-in-law and his two nephews shortly after the war, Doyle sank into depression. He found solace supporting spiritualism and its attempts to find proof of existence beyond the grave. He was a member of the renowned supernatural organisation The Ghost Club.^[3]

Chapter one: Sir Henry's problem

Read chapter one and answer the following questions:

-Quel est le métier de Sherlock?

- Où se déroule l'histoire ? 

- D'où vient Sir Henry?

-Présente la légende du chien des Baskervilles en quelques mots.

- Quel est le lien entre la légende et le mystère que présente Sir Henry?

Clemens was best known for his works in fiction, and especially for his use of humour. His first published story, in 1865, was The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered by many to be Clemens' best work. This story of a white boy who helps a black man escape slavery in the southern United States is known for its humanity.