Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh where he qualified as a doctor, but it was his writing which brought him fame, with the creation of Sherlock Holmes, the first scientific detective. He was also a convert to spiritualism and a social reformer who used his investigative skills to prove the innocence of individuals. Peter Ackroyd is a writer of novels including, 'Milton in America' and 'Hawksmoor', and of biographies of Chatterton, Dickens, William Blake and Thomas More.