Writing Worth Reading
Last updated 11 pm GMT
Writing Worth Reading
We've peaked. "Birth rates, defence spending, bond prices, welfare spending versus wealth creation; everything that historians look to in order to gauge the health of empires suggests that Europe’s fire has gone out" (Free reg/$)
"Few men have acquired so scandalous a reputation as did Basil Zaharoff, alias Count Zacharoff." Here's how he went from brothel tout, bigamist and arsonist to university benefactor, intimate of royalty, international arms dealer
Fabulous, too brief story of 19th century Englishman determined to outdo Gustav Eiffel and Paris. Design competition for London tower resulted in proposals for hanging vegetable gardens and sky railways. It didn't work out well
Did Glamis Castle, in the Scottish lowlands, have a secret to hide? Dash picks up the story of "an enigma that involved a hidden room, a secret passage, scandal, and shadowy figures glimpsed by night on castle battlements"
Some may argue there are contenders of more recent vintage but Milton proposes John Blunt. "The countdown to disaster began in January 1720, when Blunt developed a scheme to eradicate Britain’s crippling national debt"
US colonel writes to former slave, requesting he return to work. Former slave replies, in some style. Signs off with: "Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me"
"On December 10, 1810, in a muddy field around 25 miles from London, a fight took place that was so dramatic, controversial, and ferocious that it continues to haunt the imagination of boxing more than 200 years later"
Short, humorous guide. "Scotland retained its own parliament until the country went bankrupt following a disastrous attempt to colonise a wet jungle full of mosquitoes. The English bailed us out and we have never forgiven them"
On the remarkable case of Victor of Aveyron. Feral child discovered in rural France in 1798. Captured, escaped, recaptured and taken to Paris for study. Couldn't open doors. Eventually learned two words "lait" and "Dieu"
Fine essay on the origins of sexual liberation. In mid-seventeenth century adulterers, if caught, were simply executed. But within a hundred years, everything had changed. Even pregnant brides were commonplace. Why the turnaround?
Short history of European illustrations of "The Arabian Nights". 18thC illustrators drew European-like scenes. Emphasised decorum. By mid-19th, pictures were more accurate, educative. Then came eroticism. Finally, children's
Gruesome story of assassination of President Garfield. Shot by mentally unstable lawyer. Took weeks to die, while his physicians made mistake after mistake. “The doctors killed Garfield, I just shot him”
Image by ARM Climate Research Facility on Flickr
