His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes is the fourth collection of Sherlock Holmes stories published by Arthur Conan Doyle . It begins with a preface by Dr. John Watson, supposedly written in 1917, assuring the reader that Holmes is still alive but living in quiet retirement in Sussex. This collection contains the well-known stories "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans," in which Holmes has to track down stolen plans for a new kind of submarine; and "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" in which a Cornish family is found one morning driven mad or dead, with expressions of horror on their faces. The titular story "His Last Bow" is set on the very eve of the outbreak of the First World War, and involves Holmes and Watson coming out of retirement to defeat a German spy. Arthur Conan Doyle was a significant literary figure whose work has stood the test of time. This public domain edition preserves the original text in its entirety, making it accessible to modern readers and scholars alike. As a work of classic literary fiction, His Last Bow exemplifies the narrative craft and social insight that defined great storytelling of its era. Literary fiction of this period was characterized by careful attention to character psychology, social milieu, and the moral questions that animated public discourse.