''Rodney Stone'' is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

mystery and boxing novel by Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first published in 1896. The eponymous narrator is a Sussex country boy who is the son of a sailor and wishes to go to sea himself. He is taken to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

by his uncle Sir Charles Tregellis, a highly respected gentleman and arbiter of fashion who is on familiar terms with the most important people of Great Britain. The novel interweaves Rodney's coming-of-age story with that of his friend Boy Jim's boxing endeavours. Jim has been brought up by a blacksmith whom he believes to be his uncle - the blacksmith Harrison was a famous former boxer and the 'nephew' wishes to fight too. A large portion of it deals with the famous

bare-knuckle boxers Bare-knuckle means without gloves, bandages or any other protection for and/or dangerous 'arming' (such as a knuckle-duster) of the knuckles, a larger part or even the whole hand. It refers specifically to: * Bare-knuckle boxing, boxing without b ...

of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, such as Jem Belcher, John Jackson, Daniel Mendoza, Dutch Sam, and others. The book includes vignettes of a number of historical personages, notably the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illnes ...

Lord Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought ab ...

, Sir John Lade, Lord Cochrane and

Beau Brummell George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an important figure in Regency England and, for many years, the arbiter of men's fashion. At one time, he was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, bu ...

. There are also descriptions of

thuggery Thuggee (, ) are actions and crimes carried out by Thugs, historically, organised gangs of professional robbers and murderers in India. The English word ''thug'' traces its roots to the Hindi ठग (), which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Rel ...

, of gambling and cheating, and of dangerous horse-drawn chases. It was adapted into a 1913 silent film, '' The House of Temperley'', directed by Harold M. Shaw. The novel was dramatised as a four-part serial on BBC Radio 4 in 1983, which was repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra in March 2020 and June 2022. Available online via BBC Sounds.

External links

''Rodney Stone'' at FreeBookHouse
1896 British novels Scottish novels Novels by Arthur Conan Doyle Novels set in Sussex Novels set in London Novels about boxing Cultural depictions of George IV Cultural depictions of Horatio Nelson Cultural depictions of Beau Brummell {{1890s-novel-stub