
Something for the Weekend


Protect Your Cat With a Suit of Armour
Give your moggy the upper hand in any fight, by buying it its own suit of protective armour. Asking price? A lot…
Charles Nicholl
Traces Remain: Essays and Explorations
Allen Lane, 2011
It’s some months since I reviewed a book. Yes, I get through books only quite slowly, mainly because I always have a pile into which I dip and the only time I get for reading is in bed last thing at night. But after the first hesitant foray this book kept me hooked, albeit for just three or so chapters at a time.
History leaves traces of the people of the time in portraits, documents and books. Nicholl is the acclaimed author of The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe (which I read ages ago and found fascinating, but didn’t review here), The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street and Leonardo da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind (which is on my “must read” list) amongst his dozen or so books.
In Traces Remain Nicholl reprints 25 essays written over a period of almost as many years. They are a mix of the biographical, literary, historical and curious; glimpses through time, poignant vignettes and curious, intriguing puzzles. We’re taken from a mysterious painting found in a Hereford house, via a new Jack the Ripper suspect to the hunt for gold in El Dorado.
The essays were first published in a variety of British newspapers and magazines including the London Review of Books, TLS and the Daily Telegraph. They vary in length from four to over 30 pages. Yes, they are journalism, high class journalism, but none the worse for that as they are well written, concise, never stodgy, often probing and keep you reading.
That should tell you how much I enjoyed this book; it is a fascinating read especially for the collector of the byways of things historical. I especially liked the essays on Marlowe, John Aubrey, Leonardo da Vinci and the Jack the Ripper suspect. And it is on people where, at least for me, Nicholl is at his best; some of the other essays got a less thorough read, which is the only thing stopping this getting a five star rating.
If you want an introduction to Nicholl’s writing before delving into his full length works, or you want some interesting essays to dip into at bedtime (indeed any time!), or you just want some curiosities, then Traces Remain is well worth a reading.
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆
This young lady was accosting motorists to wash their windscreens on the A40 westbound at Savoy Circus lights. She was not impressed with being photographed — I wonder if she is doing something illegal? I always try photographing these people, partly to try to deter them and partly because I do so enjoy pissing them off.

So soon already here’s another round of links to items you may have missed the first time — with rather less difficult science in this issue!
NASA have recently had a spacecraft whizzing past Pluto and they have some stunning pictures as a result, like this jaw-dropping colour image.

Another in my occasional series documenting some of the underbelly of Britain. Britain which we wouldn’t like visitors to see and which we wish wasn’t there. The trash, abused, decaying, destitute and otherwise buggered parts of our environment. Those parts which symbolise the current economic malaise; parts which, were the country flourishing, wouldn’t be there, would be better cared for, or made less inconvenient.
This delight is near Harrow town centre and, as you’ll see, is part of the grounds of a primary school! And it has been in this state for quite some years.

It seems to me this sums it up prety well …
Marc Hartzman has a new book out: The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell — A Memoir. According to Hartzman:
This historical fiction book follows the real history of Cromwell’s head through 300 years of posthumous journeys across England (1661-1960), all told from the head’s perspective. Imagined anecdotes complement the true historical notes, which include many real historical characters and events, such as the rise of Spiritualism, phrenology, the Elephant Man, surgeon John Hunter, and a lot more.
Not only is it the first memoir of an embalmed head, but it is also, I believe, the first book to come with a theme song. It was written and performed by singer/songwriter/pianist Stephie Coplan, whose song, “Hey Oliver Cromwell!” is now available on iTunes and Spotify.
From Weird Universe.
There’s more on the publisher’s site: CuriousPublications.com.
And the book is available via Amazon (Kindle version only in the UK).
Another from the archives this week — a wonderful tympanum over the door of Great Rollright church in Oxfordshire. Isn’t this just an amazing piece of Norman carving? I love the fish: is it supposed to be Jonah and the whale?
