Ernest William Hornung (1890–1921) - English writer, creator of a series of books about Arthur Raffles, an amateur burglar in Victorian England. The first collection of stories about his adventures was published in 1899 under the title “The Amateur Cracksman.” Stories about the “highly moral” thief Raffles and his henchman Menders brought the author national fame. An interesting detail: Hornung's brother-in-law was none other than Arthur Conan Doyle, and his namesake Raffles, an anti-hero criminal with the manners of an aristocrat, was perceived by many contemporaries as a parody of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Doyle was not embarrassed by this caricatured borrowing, and Hornung openly acknowledged the influence of his famous relative. What attracts Raffles? He is a gentleman, a man of principles. He is handsome and in excellent athletic shape - the English cricket champion. And at the first meeting, nothing in the elegant London dandy reveals his true passion - an irresistible craving for theft. Raffles' crimes are very inventive and disturb the well-fed, measured life of high society. Will the capital's nobility be able to protect their treasures from a clever thief? Find out in the book...