Micah Clarke

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Overview

This historical novel, first published in 1889, was Doyle's third book -- his first hardcover one, preceded only by the two paper-wrappered titles A Study in Scarlet and The Mystery of Cloomber. Micah Clarke was quite successful, running through several quick printings, though Doyle had to take it to numerous publishers before Andrew Lang at Longmans finally accepted it. Doyle brought together his knowledge of the seventeenth century and supplemented it with months of research on detail. Then, at intervals of tramping medical rounds or studying optics at the Portsmouth Eye Hospital, he wrote the book in three months.

Now the power of Micah Clarke, aside from its best action scenes -- the bloodhounds on Salisbury Plain, the brush with the King's Dragoons, the fight in Wells Cathedral, the blinding battle scene at Sedgemoor -- still lies in its characterization: that other imagination, the use of homely detail, by which each character grows into life before ever a shot is fired in war.

It was attempt by Conan Doyle to present the story of the Puritans in a more favorable light than generally thought of in England at the time the book was written - a historical romance about the Monmouth rebellion and 'Hanging Judge' Jeffries. told by a humble adherent of the Duke of Monmouth - the whole story of the rising in Somerset, the triumphant advance towards Bristol and Bath, and the tragic rout at Sedgemoor (1685).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547294039
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	06/14/2017
Pages:	140
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.02(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Arthur Conan Doyle was a prolific writer born in Scotland who started out as a medical doctor. While at the University of Edinburgh, he augmented his income by writing stories. His first Sherlock Holmes tale was published in 1887, introducing one of literature's best-loved detectives. Doyle has also written many works of history and science fiction, plus plays and poetry.

Date of Birth:

May 22, 1859

Date of Death:

July 7, 1930

Place of Birth:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Place of Death:

Crowborough, Sussex, England

Education:

Edinburgh University, B.M., 1881; M.D., 1885

Table of Contents

I.	Of Cornet Joseph Clarke of the Ironsides	9
II.	Of my Going to School and of my Coming Thence	17
III.	Of Two Friends of my Youth	28
IV.	Of the Strange Fish that we Caught at Spithead	32
V.	Of the Man with the Drooping Lids	39
VI.	Of the Letter that Came from the Lowlands	45
VII.	Of the Horseman that Rode from the West	57
VIII.	Of our Start for the Wars	63
IX.	Of a Passage of Arms at the Blue Boar	74
X.	Of our Perilous Adventure on the Plain	80
XI.	Of the Lonely Man and the Gold Chest	93
XII.	Of Certain Passages upon the Moor	103
XIII.	Of Sir Gervas Jerome, Knight Banneret of the County of Surrey	112
XIV.	Of the Stiff-legged Parson and his Flock	123
XV.	Of our Brush with the King's Dragoons	131
XVI.	Of our Coming to Taunton	142
XVII.	Of the Gathering in the Market-Square	149
XVIII.	Of Master Stephen Timewell, Mayor of Taunton	159
XIX.	Of a Brawl in the Night	178
XX.	Of the Muster of the Men of the West	189
XXI.	Of my Hand-gripes with the Bradenburger	198
XXII.	Of the News from Havant	213
XXIII.	Of the Snare on the Western Road	221
XXIV.	Of the Welcome that Met me at Badminton	237
XXV.	Of Strange Doings in the Boteler Dungeon	252
XXVI.	Of the Strife in the Council	266
XXVII.	Of the Affair near Keynsham Bridge	272
XXVIII.	Of the Fight in Wells Cathedral	281
XXIX.	Of the Great Cry from the Lonely House	291
XXX.	Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket	298
XXXI.	Of the Maid of the Marsh and the Bubble which Rose from the Bog	310
XXXII.	Of the Onfall at Sedgemoor	324
XXXIII.	Of my Perilous Adventure at the Mill	349
XXXIV.	Of the Coming of Solomon Sprent	361
XXXV.	Of the Devil in Wig and Gown	371
XXXVI.	Of the End of it All	394
	Appendix	399