Before Baker Street: Joseph Bell and the Making of Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is known the world over, yet the man Arthur Conan Doyle credited as Sherlock’s prototype is unsung. The deductive powers of 19th-century doctor Joseph Bell—who read patients’ ailments, occupation, and personal habits at a single glance—had a profound influence on medical student Conan Doyle. Author Lindsey Fitzharris recounts how Bell’s work took him from ward to witness box as a medical detective.