Father of the Blind: Synopsis As a child, living in Winchester in southern England I spent much time at the house of my great-grandmother. She lived nearby with her son-in-law Thomas Waldin, a widower.In this house, the name Sir Arthur Pearson was spoken of with reverence, as it was by...
Agatha Christie: The Pitkin Guide
Agatha Christie: Synopsis A beautifully illustrated guidebook for those seeking an introduction to the life of the great detective writer. Agatha Christie is the 'Queen of Crime'. As the best-selling novelist of all time, her stories have been loved by countless readers who have immersed themselves in her vivid characters,...
Arthur Conan Doyle: The Man Behind Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle: Synopsis Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have preferred to be remembered as an historical novelist, but the public insisted that it was his fictional detective character, ‘Sherlock Holmes’ whom they wanted more and more of. Holmes’s methods were akin to those of Doyle’s former tutor at medical...
Enid Blyton and her Enchantment with Dorset
Enid Blyton and her Enchantment with Dorset Synopsis Many will recall in childhood, defying their parents by reading by torchlight at night-time under the bedclothes. I myself, recall doing this both at home and at boarding school, where all too often the object of my delight were Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous...
Thomas Hardy: Behind the Mask
Thomas Hardy: Synopsis I feel I have a particular affinity for the Dorset poet and novelist Thomas Hardy, in that my own ‘Norman’ ancestors lived at Fordington, Dorchester and were baptised by the Reverend Henry Moule whose son, Horace was Hardy’s dearest friend. However, the fact that Hardy was such...
Hitler: Dictator or Puppet
Hitler: Synopsis Adolf Hitler has been variously described as a ‘madman’; a ‘lunatic’; a ‘monster’; a ‘homicidal maniac’ etcetera, but this in no way explains the essence of the man who was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people. His appearance was fairly unremarkable. But when he...
Winston Churchill: Portrait of an Unquiet Mind
Winston Churchill: Synopsis On top of the piano in her living room, my great-grandmother kept a treasured, handwritten letter from Winston Churchill in a sliver frame. During the Second World War she had written to Britain’s wartime leader to congratulate him on his handling of the war. This was his...
Charles Darwin: Destroyer of Myths
Charles Darwin: Synopsis When Charles Darwin sailed to South America, and in particular the Galapagos Islands of the west coast of Chile, as a naturalist aboard the good ship HMS Beagle in the year 1831, his observations of the flora and fauna would lead him to formulate his Theory of...
Beatrix Potter: Her Inner World
Beatrix Potter: Synopsis Even from a very young age when she lived in London, Beatrix Potter was interested in animals. In fact, she kept a collection of them in her bedroom! In her books, such as ‘The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin’, which she illustrated herself, she treated the little animals...
T.E. Lawrence: Tormented Hero
T.E. Lawrence: Synopsis Why did ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, at the height of his fame, decide to become a virtual recluse? Was it because of some trauma that he had sustained during the First World War? The story of T.E. Lawrence's inner struggle against the demons that tormented him, together with...