Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (Crime Classics) (Atlantic Classic Crime) - Softcover

Raffles is a public-school cad and master burglar, with an aptitude for cricket and a passion for crime - a loveable rogue who steals from the rich not to give to the poor, but rather to subsidize his own splendid lifestyle (he has an unimpeachable address at Albany in St James'). Along with his sidekick - his former schoolmate and fellow gambler Harry 'Bunny' Masters - he embarks on a series of thefts. But will they get away with it? First published in 1899, Raffles was an immediate success. With Raffles, the scoundrel-in-an-evening-suit, Hornung created an irresistible alternative to Sherlock Holmes.

Ernest William Hornung was a British author born in Middlesbrough. He spent most of his life in England and France, but in 1884 left for Australia and stayed for two years where he working as a tutor. In 1893 he married Constance Doyle, the sister of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in 1893. His most famous creation, 'gentleman thief' A. J. Raffles, first appeared in Strand magazine and then in other British magazines during the 1890s. The stories were later published in The Amateur Cracksman (1899), a collection. Other titles in the series include The Black Mask (1901), A Thief in the Night (1905), and the full-length novel Mr Justice Raffles (1909). Robert Giddings is a literary critic and broadcaster who regularly writes for publications including the Tribune and the Dickensian. He is the author of A Student's Guide to Charles Dickens, and co-author with Keith Selby of The Classic Serial on Television and Radio.