• Raffles was described by Arthur Conan Doyle as an inversion of Sherlock Holmes, performing formally pleasing crimes throughout late Victorian London under the motto "Art for art's sake"
• Hornung had Oscar Wilde in mind as much as Sherlock Holmes, and the account of their double life offers one of the turn of the century's most sympathetic accounts of a same-sex couple
• An important text for those studying detective fiction, the fin de siècle, and Wilde and his circle
• Provides an authoritative but accessible introduction to Hornung's work, as well as an extensive set of notes and critical apparatus

   
Art for art's sake is a vile catchword, but I confess it appeals to me'
  
Gentleman by day and thief by night, A. J. Raffles lives a double life. Taking 'Art for art's sake' as his motto, Raffles supports his debonair lifestyle by performing lucrative, artistic, and ingenious burglaries of the wealthy elite of Victorian London. Dedicated to his brother-in-law Arthur Conan Doyle, Hornung's first collection of Raffles stories, The Amateur Cracksman (1899), can be seen as an inverted spin-off of the former's celebrated detective stories. But it is Raffles' outlaw status that has drawn generations of readers to these swift-paced tales of a charismatic and cool-headed thief and his less worldly partner, Bunny. Hornung had Oscar Wilde in mind as much as Sherlock Holmes when he created Raffles, and the account of their double life offers one of the turn of the century's most touching accounts of a same-sex couple.
  
Frequently adapted for stage and screen, Hornung's original stories have never lost their power to captivate readers. Admired by writers like George Orwell, Graham Greene, and Anthony Powell, Hornung's crisp prose evokes a late Victorian London of clubland bachelors, hansom cabs, champagne suppers, Australian heiresses, and South African diamond moguls.