Gathering together in one volume the later exploits of the saga of Sherlock Holmes, the world's first consulting detective, His Last Bow includes tales published individually between 1908 and 1917, plus one early story, 1892's "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box," previously considered too "scandalous" for American audiences, with its themes of adultery. Here, Holmes must contend with mysterious bearded men, stolen secret submarine plans, a missing lady aristocrat, and his own near-fatal illness in stories including: . "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" . "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" . "The Adventure of the Red Circle" . "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" . "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" . "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" . "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" . "His Last Bow" Scottish surgeon and political activist SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (1859-1930) turned his passions into stories and novels, producing fiction and nonfiction works sometimes controversial (The Great Boer War, 1900), sometimes fanciful (The Coming of the Fairies, 1922), and sometimes legendary (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892).