Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
"Anne Boleyn is one of the most controversial women in English history; we argue over her, we pity and admire and revile her, we reinvent her in every generation. Her rise is glittering, her fall sordid. God pays her out"
"For several hundred years many Europeans, including royalty, priests and scientists, routinely ingested remedies containing human bones, blood and fat as medicine for everything from headaches to epilepsy." Last example? 1908
Most think of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama as intrepid explorers, bold and honourable men. Few realise their real motivation was to see a Christian reconquest of the Middle East, with all Muslims and Jews eradicated
"It is no secret that globalization has been a disaster for some and a boon to others. That it has been the cause of great ecological transformations, dating back to Columbus' arrival in the Americas, is less well understood"
Gerard Mercator was born in 1512, in what is now Belgium. Trained in geography and astronomy, he grew up to be a precocious cartographer. Then in 1569 he changed the world forever when he revealed the Mercator map. This is his story
Dash takes us back to the 17th century for a bizarre tale of hyperinflation. Incredibly, "it was the product not only of slipshod economic management, but also of deliberate attempts by German states to defraud their neighbours"
"Casanova lived from 1725 to 1798, and was a far more intellectual figure than the gadabout playboy portrayed on film. He was a true Enlightenment polymath, whose many achievements would put the likes of Hugh Hefner to shame"
Ottoman sultans weren't shy about executing subjects when it was expedient to do so. But, for a time, there was one way in which condemned viziers could avoid the sword. By winning a running race with the sultan's head gardener
The Enlightenment changed the course of the 18th century by promoting liberty, secularism, science, equality, religious toleration, and the freedom to disagree. Here's how it happened. Prepare for Locke, Voltaire, Diderot and more
"In England, confidence in the utility of alchemy was widespread. It was unsurprising that metallic transmutation was pursued as a solution to the stubborn scarcity of money problem that had severely curtailed commerce for decades"
Thanks to the swift development of the printed-book trade, even a 16C farmer in northern England could own a copy of the works of Erasmus. New knowledge primed the country for great intellectual and economic changes
Fine essay reviewing Robert Massie book on Catherine the Great. "Her unremitting sexual appetites became a way to acquire intelligent and energetic devotees upon whom she could rely in the snake pit of the Russian court"
