Penguin Classic edition
“His Last Bow” is a short story from the anthology His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes (1977). It’s the last work in Conan Doyle’s mystery series about the legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Unlike the other Holmes stories which focused on the detective's talents and investigative abilities, this story is a spy based one. The story could have been written at the time of the First World War, because of its portrayal of British and German spies and to boost morale of the British army as well of the public.
Two German agents - von Bork and von Herling - are standing talking outside an English country house. The two men discuss the positions of the United Kingdom and Germany relative to the impending First World War. They both are confident that Germany will win the war based on the tactics employed by their armies.
Von Bork refers to the other gentleman about an Irish-American man called Altamont whom he has hired as an informer against the British. Altamont is supposed to be bringing an important file. Once von Bork receives it he intends to leave England for his home country. Herling leaves and Altamont soon arrives in a chauffeur-driven car. He turns out to be Holmes and the chauffeur is Watson. Holmes had been duping Bork. Soon he sedates Bork and collects the papers. He had been giving false information to Bork so that he could know what action they would take for the attack on England. He also mentions that he plans to retire to the South Downs and engage himself in his new hobby of bee-keeping.
“His Last Bow” is a short story from the anthology His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes (1977). It’s the last work in Conan Doyle’s mystery series about the legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Unlike the other Holmes stories which focused on the detective's talents and investigative abilities, this story is a spy based one. The story could have been written at the time of the First World War, because of its portrayal of British and German spies and to boost morale of the British army as well of the public.
Two German agents - von Bork and von Herling - are standing talking outside an English country house. The two men discuss the positions of the United Kingdom and Germany relative to the impending First World War. They both are confident that Germany will win the war based on the tactics employed by their armies.
Von Bork refers to the other gentleman about an Irish-American man called Altamont whom he has hired as an informer against the British. Altamont is supposed to be bringing an important file. Once von Bork receives it he intends to leave England for his home country. Herling leaves and Altamont soon arrives in a chauffeur-driven car. He turns out to be Holmes and the chauffeur is Watson. Holmes had been duping Bork. Soon he sedates Bork and collects the papers. He had been giving false information to Bork so that he could know what action they would take for the attack on England. He also mentions that he plans to retire to the South Downs and engage himself in his new hobby of bee-keeping.
Illustration of Holmes sedating Bork -by Alfred Gilbert as it appeared in Strand magazine
Trivia -Sherlock Holmes' undercover name, Altamont, is also the middle name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father, Charles Altamont Doyle.
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Front cover of Strand where the story appeared
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