Notes on Spiritism

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle publicly declared his belief in communication with the deceased for the first time in an article that appeared in the magazine "Light" on October 21, 1916. This statement sounded like a bolt from the blue to many at that time. However, the first spiritual séance he attended – it must be said, with a strongly skeptical mindset – took place at the end of 1886, when Conan Doyle was still a practicing doctor just starting out. His interest in psychic phenomena was indicated a few years prior to this first experience. There is probably no one who hasn't read Conan Doyle, but there is also no one who has read all of Conan Doyle's works. This is, despite all desire, impossible even in England.
It has become a tradition that most Russian readers, upon hearing the name Conan Doyle, will joyfully note to themselves: "Ah, this is the author of the famous Sherlock Holmes!" And that is all. Thus, it turns out that perhaps the most important aspect of the writer's spiritual life – his scientific and philosophical pursuits, his vigorous public activities – remains unknown to the Russian-speaking reader.
This book reveals to the Russian reader a completely unknown side of Arthur Conan Doyle's life and work. On its pages, Conan Doyle appears as a profound thinker who is deeply concerned with fundamental issues of Existence: the soul, immortality, God, religion, psychic research, the progress of humanity, its fate and destiny. "Notes on Spiritism" goes far beyond the bounds of "table-turning," which was so popular at the time.