I just finished your interview with Ruth Scurr on her book on Napoleon’s Gardens. Marvelous. Added it to my holiday gift list. I always stayed away from Napoleon biographies because the scope tends to be so sweeping and grand. Scurr is making him approachable.
I am an unreconstructed “windmill tilter” so I really liked the newsletter. Great stuff.
Thank you for a lovely comment John! Ruth Scurr is a wonderful writer. I do agree with you about bios of figures such as Napoleon. I would recommend also Emil Ludwig's book on N. He was a Swiss-German writer in 1920s whose biography of N reads like Hugo's Les Mis!
Orwell, Kafka and Goethe are swirling together in the metaphorical whirlpool we are currently living in, and I think many of us feel as if we are tilting at windmills, trying to stop the tide. Unfortunately, people who have even heard of Orwell, Kafka and Goethe are now in the minority and makeup tips on TikTok are the height of culture, at least here in the US. This is why I appreciate so much the work that you are doing.
I just finished your interview with Ruth Scurr on her book on Napoleon’s Gardens. Marvelous. Added it to my holiday gift list. I always stayed away from Napoleon biographies because the scope tends to be so sweeping and grand. Scurr is making him approachable.
I am an unreconstructed “windmill tilter” so I really liked the newsletter. Great stuff.
Thank you for a lovely comment John! Ruth Scurr is a wonderful writer. I do agree with you about bios of figures such as Napoleon. I would recommend also Emil Ludwig's book on N. He was a Swiss-German writer in 1920s whose biography of N reads like Hugo's Les Mis!
Orwell, Kafka and Goethe are swirling together in the metaphorical whirlpool we are currently living in, and I think many of us feel as if we are tilting at windmills, trying to stop the tide. Unfortunately, people who have even heard of Orwell, Kafka and Goethe are now in the minority and makeup tips on TikTok are the height of culture, at least here in the US. This is why I appreciate so much the work that you are doing.