Harold Begbie (1871–1929)

Andrew Latter has trained his mind to see, through his dreams, the resolution to mysterious crimes. In each of these short stories, Latter thinks about an unsolved case before he goes to sleep, views the crime in great detail in his dream, and reports the result to Scotland Yard when he wakes.

The stories certainly highlight the intense interest in spiritualism which abounded in the early twentieth century - the focus is the 'dream world' and Latter's journey through dreams. The stories themselves are not terribly exciting. The mystery is resolved as soon as Latter falls asleep and sees what happened.

Jack Adrian's introduction to this edition is far more interesting, detailing Begbie's interests and career. Begbie wrote propaganda during the first World War and appeared to believe stories of angels assisting British troops during battle. I was far more engaged in Adrian's description of the angel controversy than I was in Begbie's stories.… (más)

In 1909 psychologist Harold Begbie goes into a small slum district of London to conduct a research project. Inspired by a book, The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James, Professor of Philosophy at Harvard, Mr. Begbie wants to bring a companion book to James' book to describe the psychological effects of Christian conversion in the "lowest of the low" of the inhabitants of this small section of London. The Salvation Army was in the earliest stages of its work and Mr. Begbie enlists their help in finding his subjects. He presents the life stories of nine of the worst drunkards and criminals who had drastic life reformations after walking up to the "penitent form" at the front of a Salvation Army meeting hall. He concludes his study by saying, "When I visit the happy homes and experience the gentleness, kindness and refinement of such people as those whose life-stories appear in this book, and compare them with the squalor and misery of the great majority of homes surrounding them, I am astonished that the world should be so incredulous about religion, and that legislation should be so foolish as to attempt to do laboriously by enactments, clumsy and slow, what might be done instantly and easily by religion, if it had the full force of the community at its back."… (más)