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In those days, the term "Science Fiction" had not been formulated, so when Conan Doyle wrote this story, in his mind it was a "boys book". Another four novels about Professor Challenger's adventures followed The Lost World. This series stands out as a masterpiece of the genre authors such as Michael Chrighton have had no qualms to "borrow" from.

The Valley of Fear, the second full length Sherlock Holmes novel, was serialized in The Strand magazine in early 1914. But Conan Doyle's readers were not quite satisfied, for Sherlock Holmes was absent during a great part of the novel.

In May 1914, Sir Arthur and Lady Conan Doyle sailed for New York, a city the author found unfavorably changed since his first visit twenty years earlier. Canada, where they spent a short time, the couple found enchanting. They were back home a month later, probably because for a long time, Conan Doyle had been convinced of a coming war with Germany. He had sent articles to newspapers about organizing "Military readiness," many years before World War I broke out. In 1913 he wrote to the Fortnightly Review, expressing his views about new untested warfare: "These new factors are the submarine and the airship". He foresaw the possibility of a "Blockade" by enemy submersible ships, long before anyone in the British navy did. The only solution he added would be to build a Channel Tunnel. But this intelligent man's warnings were judged to be "Jules Verne fantasies" by most naval experts.

As soon as the war broke-out, Conan Doyle then fifty-five, offered to enlist again. He was denied his wish once more but set out to organize a civilian battalion of over a hundred volunteers. When the navy lost more than a thousand lives in a single day, his brilliant mind never at rest, Conan Doyle made suggestions to the War Office to provide "inflatable rubber belts," and "inflatable life boats." He also spoke of "body armor" to protect soldiers on the front. Most government officials found him irritating at best. One of the exceptions was Winston Churchill, who wrote to thank him for his ideas. Continued...