ir Arthur Conan Doyle was a master in the art of story-telling. He is best remembered for his detective stories. He dealt quite easily with the crime mysteries through his ever popular creation Sherlock Holmes. Apart from the detective stories Doyle wrote some historical and other romances as well as science fiction. In the present book first two stories represent fine specimens of science fiction : The Disintegration Machine deals with the threat of 'a machine of a most extraordinary character which is capable of disintegrating any object'. When the World Screamed narrates the terrifying results of an attempt to bore an eight-mile shaft through the earth's crust. This book also includes short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, the great detective. How Holmes cracks the net of enemy agents is the theme of His Last Bow : The War Service of Sherlock Holmes. In The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone, we have Holmes solving the case of a diamond burglary. The Problem of Thor Bridge finds Holmes successfully trying to save an innocent woman indicted for murder. In The Adventure of the Illustrious client, Holmes stops a potentially ruinous marriage. This volume also includes other stories equally thrilling and chilling, exhibiting Doyle at his best.