A.J. Raffles is perhaps the most famous gentleman theif in literary history. Though not the first (Simon Carney predates him by three years), Raffles has become the most well known, thanks not least to several movies and television shows retelling his adventures.

For himself, Raffles is a dashing and roguish gentleman of indeterminate age who has hit upon an unusual means of relieving his occasional financial difficulties. Seemingly enjoying the challenge of burglary as much or more than the actual acquisitions, Raffles' sole other passion was cricket. Suave, debonair and as old-school as is compatible with his roguishness, Raffles may well have helped inspire characters such as Simon Templar (the Saint) and James Bond.

However, as a criminal, he has not always been considered a proper role model, even in his earliest days. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and brother-in-law of E.W.Hornung, expressed this ambivalence in his autobiography:

"I think I may claim that his famous character Raffles was a kind of inversion of Sherlock Holmes, Bunny playing Watson. He admits as much in his kindly dedication. I think there are few finder examples of short-story writing in our language than these, though I confess I think they are rather dangerous in their suggestion. I told him so before he put pen to paper, and the result has, I fear, borne me out. You must not make the criminal a hero."

Doyle's dictum did not prove a popular one in the 20th Century, nor does it appear likely to in the 21st. Raffles has proved lastingly popular, and several other authors have followed in Hornung's footsteps, writing further tales of the Amateur Cracksman, including Peter Tremayne, Philip Jose Farmer and Kim Newman.