The Amateur Cracksman was the original short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 collection by Ernest William Hornung

Ernest William Hornung

Ernest William Hornung , known as Willie, was an English author, most famous for writing the Raffles series of novels about a gentleman thief in late Victorian London....

 featuring his most famous character A. J. Raffles

A. J. Raffles

Arthur J. Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes — he is a "gentleman thief," living in the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing...

 a gentleman thief

Gentleman thief

In the Victorian vernacular, a gentleman thief is a particularly well-behaving and apparently well bred thief. A "gentleman" is usually, but not always, a man with an inherited title of nobility and inherited wealth, who need not work for a living. Such a man steals not in order to gain material...

 in late Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 Great Britain. It was first published in 1899. The book was very well received and spawned three follow-ups, two more short story collections The Black Mask

The Black Mask

The Black Mask is the second collection of stories written by Ernest William Hornung in the A. J. Raffles series concerning a gentleman thief in late Victorian London...

 (1901), A Thief in the Night (1904) and a full-length novel Mr. Justice Raffles

Mr. Justice Raffles

Mr. Justice Raffles was a 1909 novel written by E.W. Hornung. It featured his popular character A. J. Raffles a well-known cricketer and gentleman thief...

 in 1909.

Arthur Raffles is a prominent member of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 society, and a national sporting hero. As a cricketer

Cricketer

A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....

 he regularly represents England in Test

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

 matches. He uses this as a chance to commit a number of burgalries, primarily stealing valuable jewellry from his hosts. In this he is assisted by his friend, the younger, idealistic Bunny Manders

Bunny Manders

Harry Manders is a character in the popular series of Raffles novels by E.W. Hornung. He is the faithful companion of Raffles, a cricketer and gentleman thief, who makes a living robbing the rich in late Victorian British High Society.Whereas Raffles is sharp-witted and cynical, the younger Bunny...

. Both men are constantly under the surveillance of Inspector Mackenzie

Inspector Mackenzie

Inspector Mackenzie is a fictional Scottish police officer. He is a recurring character in the Raffles stories written by Ernest William Hornung...

 of Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...

 who is always thwarted in his attempts to pin the crimes on Raffles.

In the final story The Gift of the Emperor

The Gift of the Emperor

The Gift of the Emperor is a short story by Ernest William Hornung featuring his popular creation A. J. Raffles. It is included in the original collection of Raffles stories The Amateur Cracksman, first published in 1899....

, Raffles is called into service on behalf of the Foreign Office who wish to recover a valuable pearl from a German diplomat staying in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The short stories included in the collection are:

• The Ides of March
• A Costume Piece
• Gentlemen and Players
• Le Premier Pas
• Wilful Murder
• Nine Points of the Law
• The Return Match
• The Gift of the Emperor
  The Gift of the Emperor
  The Gift of the Emperor is a short story by Ernest William Hornung featuring his popular creation A. J. Raffles. It is included in the original collection of Raffles stories The Amateur Cracksman, first published in 1899....