The Authentic World of Sherlock Holmes: An Evocative Tour of Conan Doyle's Victorian London

“The Authentic World of Sherlock Holmes,” by Charles Viney, is a large-format (about 12” x 12”), high-quality book filled with excellent photographs of London from the end of the 19th century. The places depicted in the photos are connected to excerpts from the Canon text, and at the back, several pages are reproduced (in magnifying-glass scale!) from a highly detailed map of the time. So imagine my surprise when I learned that Charles Viney had also produced another book of Victorian photographs. This one was called “Sherlock Holmes in London.” More great photos! I thought, and I had to have them both. Wrong. Don’t make the same mistake. They are both excellent books because THEY ARE THE SAME BOOK, with different titles and covers. If you’re a Holmesian, it’s a great book. Buy one, or the other, but not both.