Gifted with a keen insight into human character, Katherine Mansfield wrote a number of almost perfect short stories. Much of her work is based on incidents and scenes from her own life. She was born Kathleen Beauchamp in Wellington, New Zealand, on October 14, 1888, as the daughter of a banker. Katherine Mansfield was her […]
An old Italian proverb says, “See Naples and die!” It testifies to the enduring attraction of this remarkable city, the third largest city in Italy and one of the most beautiful in the world. Approximately 190 kilometres southeast of Rome, the city is on the north side of the Bay of Naples. The bay juts […]
Susan Eloise Hinton is an American author, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1950. As a young writer, Hinton decided to write under her initials in order to deflect attention from her gender. She set out to write about the difficult social system that teenagers create among themselves. Her books struck a chord with adolescents who […]
Most great cities have beautiful fountains, but in Rome they are a living part of the city. Italian poets have immortalized them in verse. One of Italy’s major composers, Ottorino Respighi, enshrined them in two richly descriptive symphonic poems. Books about Rome’s fountains published in Italian, French and English have contributed to their fame. The […]
Through his friend John Stuart Mill, the English philosopher Thomas Cariyle became interested in the French Revolution and set to work on a monumental history. After five months of difficult work on this project, Cariyle completed the first volume and left it with Mill for criticism. While in Mill’s possession, the manuscript was accidentally burned […]
In an age when medical science was combating heart disease with costly hightech interventions, American physician Dean Ornish was something of a throwback. His simple, inexpensive program of lifestyle changes – which featured a low-fat, primarily vegetarian diet, moderate aerobic exercise, and daily stress management – contrasted sharply with such potentially risky treatments as bypass […]
The value of certain foods in maintaining health was recognized long before the first vitamins were actually identified. In the 18th century, for example, it had been demonstrated that the addition of citrus fruits to the diet would prevent the development of scurvy. In the 19th century it was shown that substituting unpolished for polished […]
The American actress Lauren Bacall first came into prominence as the huskyvoiced glamour girl who captivated Humphrey Bogart both on and off the screen, but enduring talent enabled her to build a solid show business career that lasted for more than 50 years. Bacall made her film debut opposite Bogart in “To Have and Have […]
Technology suggests permanent change and improvement. Once a new technique is discovered and adopted, society does not attempt to revert to the former technique. The automobile displaced the horse; the electric light replaced kerosene lamps; sound movies replaced silent films; and word processors are rapidly making typewriters obsolete. This forward march of technology is called […]
The adoption of assassination as a political weapon derives from the Islamic world of the 11th century. A secret order of Muslims was founded in Persia in about 1090 by a man named Hasan-i-Sabbah. After gaining control of a mountain fortress near the Caspian Sea, Hasan founded a sect to fight his political enemies by […]