David Askew
The Gentleman Naturalist
Charles Darwin’s theories of natural selection and evolution have weathered well and he cannot be held responsible for those who have developed a repugnant politics on the back of a vulgarisation of them.
Violent Remedies
The same year Rodrigo Borgia, one of the most controversial of the many controversial Renaissance popes, became Pope Alexander VI. As Unger notes, he “was on intimate terms with … Greed, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, and Pride”. He was widely reported to have turned the Vatican into a brothel. Alexander’s son, Cesare Borgia, of whom, Capponi writes that “deceit, corruption, fraud, and murder were merely part of a very pragmatic approach to politics”, was to cast a long shadow over Machiavelli’s thought.
The Visionary Upholsterer
He was involved in the Gothic revival in, for example, stained glass. In textiles, he was both a weaver and a dyer –both the technical and the aesthetic aspects of his work are of interest. He was a businessman and manufacturer, and founded a successful company, Morris & Co. He combined his publishing and entrepreneurial expertise to become one of the most important private printers of the modern era. He was a noted translator.
One Part Prescient, Five Parts Puerile
Highly promiscuous, he was unfaithful to all his women, and never – quite – managed to love anyone else as much as he loved himself. He was chauvinistic and seemed to have very little respect for women – Rebecca West was informed of her duties “as a custodian of genius” – “You have to take care of me and have me fed and peaceful and comfortable.” He was puffed up with a sense of importance that his considerable abilities did not quite justify, and had an unpleasant proclivity to explode into furious rage at the smallest imagined slight.
Not Pulling Punches
As Swift knew, his complex irony can be challenging. He was aware that he had often been misunderstood, to his own detriment. Looking back on his own life, he concluded that “Had he but spar’d his Tongue and Pen, / He might have rose like other Men”. His irony, Hammond observes, “sometimes seems to saw through the branch of religious orthodoxy upon which he tried to perch”.
Fugitive Pleasures
These then are the lives Hastings tackles – those of playwright, short story virtuoso and novelist, traveller, millionaire art collector, exile, homosexual, secret agent and unhinged old man. Maugham had a long life – he published his first books while Queen Victoria was on the throne, and at least one of his lovers, David Posner, lived long enough to die of AIDS in 1985.
- Science / Human Sciences
- September 2021
- Irish History
- Irish Art / Culture
- Irish Literature
- Irish Politics
- World Art / Culture
- World History
- World Politics
- World Literature
- Biography
- Politics
- Art & Architecture
- Poetry
- Fiction
- Ideas
- Society
- History
- Literature
- Extracts
- Dublin
- Literary Life
- Cinema
- Exhibitions
- Theatre
- ++ -- Issues
- Issue 00, Pilot Issue
- Issue 142, March 2022
- Issue 145, June 2022
- Issue 136, September 2021
- Issue 143, April 2022
- Issue 144, May 2022
- Issue 141, February 2022
- Issue140, January 2022
- Issue 139, December 2021
- Issue 138, November 2021
- Issue 137, October 2021
- Issue 01, Spring 2007
- Issue 02, Summer 2007
- Issue 03, Autumn 2007
- Issue 04, Winter 2007-08
- Issue 05, Spring 2008
- Issue 06, Summer 2008
- Issue 07, Autumn 2008
- Issue 08, Winter 2008
- Issue 09, Spring 2009
- Issue 10, Summer 2009
- Issue 11, Autumn 2009
- Issue 12, Winter 2009
- Issue 13, Spring 2010
- Issue 14, Summer 2010
- Issue 15, Autumn 2010
- Issue 16, Winter 2010
- Issue 17, Spring 2011
- Issue 18, Summer 2011
- Issue 19, Autumn 2011
- Issue 20, Winter 2011
- Issue 21, Spring 2012
- Issue 22, Summer 2012
- Issue 23, Autumn 2012
- Issue 24, November 19th, 2012
- Issue 25, December 3rd, 2012
- Issue 26, December 17th, 2012
- Issue 27, January 14th, 2013
- Issue 28, January 28th, 2013
- Issue 29, February 11th, 2013
- Issue 30, March 11th, 2013
- Issue 31, March 25th, 2013
- Issue 32, April 8th 2013
- Issue 33, April 22nd, 2013
- Issue 34, May 6th, 2013
- Issue 35, May 20th, 2013
- Issue 36, June 4th, 2013
- Issue 37, June 17th, 2013
- Issue 38, July 1st, 2013
- Issue 39, July 15th, 2013
- Issue 40, September 9th, 2013
- Issue 41, September 23rd, 2013
- Issue 42, October 7th, 2013
- Issue 43, October 21st, 2013
- Issue 44, November 4th, 2013
- Issue 45, November 18th, 2013
- Issue 46, December 2nd, 2013
- Issue 47, December 16th, 2013
- Issue 48, January 27th, 2014
- Issue 49, February 10th, 2014
- Issue 50, February 24th, 2014
- Issue 51, March 10th, 2014
- Issue 52, March 24th, 2014
- Issue 53, April 7th, 2014
- Issue 54, April 21st, 2014
- Issue 55, May 5th, 2014
- Issue 56, May 19th, 2014
- Issue 57, June 2nd, 2014
- Issue 58, June 16th, 2014
- Issue 59, Sept 1st, 2014
- Issue 60, October 2014
- Issue 61, November 2014
- Issue 62, December 2014
- Issue 63, January 2015
- Issue 64, February 2015
- Issue 65, March 2015
- Issue 66, April 2015
- Issue 67, May 2015
- Issue 68, June 2015
- Issue 69, July 2015
- Issue 70, September 2015
- Issue 71, October 2015
- Issue 72, November 2015
- Issue 73, December 2015
- Issue 74, January 2016
- Issue 75, February 2016
- Issue 76, March 2016
- Issue 77, April 2016
- Issue 78, May 2016
- Issue 79, June 2016
- Issue 80, July 2016
- Issue 81, September 2016
- Issue 82, October 2016
- Issue 83, November 2016
- Issue 84, December 2016
- Issue 85, January 2017
- Issue 86, February 2017
- Issue 87, March 2017
- Issue 88, April 2017
- Issue 89, May 2017
- Issue 90, June 2017
- Issue 91, July 2017
- Issue 92, September 2017
- Issue 93, October 2017
- Issue 94, October 2017
- Issue 94, November 2017
- Issue 95, December 2017
- Issue 96, January 2018
- Issue 97, February 2018
- Issue 98, February 2018
- Issue 98, March 2018
- Issue 99, April 2018
- Issue 100, May 2018
- Issue 101, June 2018
- Issue 102, July 2018
- Issue 103, September 2018
- issue 104, October 2018
- Issue 105, November 2018
- Issue105, November 2018
- Issue 106, December 2018
- Issue 107, January 2019
- Issue 108, February 2019
- Issue 109, March 2019
- Issue 110, April 2019
- Issue 111, May 2019
- Issue 112, June 2019
- Issue 113, July 2019
- Issue 114, September 2019
- Issue 115, October 2019
- Issue 116, November 2016
- Issue 116, November 2019
- Issue 117, December 2019
- Issue 118, January 2020
- Issue 119, February 2020
- Issue 120, March 2020
- Issue 121, April 2020
- Issue 122, May 2020
- Issue 123, June 2020
- Issue 124, July 2020
- Issue 125, September 2020
- Issue 126, October 2020
- Issue 127, November 2020
- Issue 128, December 2020
- Issue 129, January 2021
- Issue 130, February 2021
- Issue 131, March 2021
- Issue 132, April 2021
- Issue 133, May 2021
- Issue 134, June 2021
- Issue 135
- July 2021
- Issue 135, July 2021