Author Spotlight: Stephen Fry

     I've mentioned before that British actor, writer, and raconteur is one of my favorite people. He's kind of like a modern day Mark Twain, I think, and I always enjoy his work. I've also always enjoyed reading and learning mythology of all cultures, so bring the two together, and I'm extremely happy.

    Fry's latest book projects have been the retelling of ancient Greek mythology, in three volumes. Mythos is an overview, from the beginning, literally, of the universe.  Heroes contains the stories of the heroic figures who battle with, for and against, the gods.  Troy  is, just as you would expect, Fry's retelling of the epic of the Trojan War. Everything you love about mythology is contained in these volumes, along with Fry's keen wit and insight.  And, of course, these should go on your audiobook list in order to get the full effect of Fry's narration as you're commuting or working out.

    

    And I've already written about his Victorian Secrets and Edwardian Secrets. These are actually Audible originals, and they are podcasts, so there sound effects, music, and interviews with historians included as well. They are great reviews of the seamier, and steamier, side of the periods, stories that you don't find in history books, but stories that we are all interested in.

    Once you're on the Fry bandwagon, look up some of his older books as well.  Stephen Fry In America,  from 2010,  is his travelogue of the USA. Typical British guy trying to figure America out, in the fashion of Charles Dickens, Michael Palin, and Bill Bryson. There was also a video series that aired on PBS, and it's currently available on Amazon Prime Video.

    Fry's also a novelist, of course, and history lovers would be most interested in his alternate history/time travel book, Making History, the story of a graduate student and Holocaust survivor joining forces to try to change the course of history.

Not-So-Jolly-Old England

     I've been on a run of Audible books about life in Victorian and Edwardian England lately, books about life and crime in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

    Technically speaking, Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets and Stephen Fry's Edwardian Secrets aren't books; they are podcasts only available through Audible. Full disclosure: I could listen to Stephen Fry narrate or discuss absolutely any topic in the world., so naturally I would be a fan of these podcasts. Each podcast consists of twelve episodes that not only feature Fry's narration, but, as befitting any podcast worthy of the title, music, sound effects, and interviews with historians. The podcasts cover both the "upstairs" and "downstairs" views of life in the United Kingdom, so to speak, revealing what actually went on behind the closed doors of palaces and hovels alike. No topic is left untouched, so some of the chapters are best for adult ears. Topics include sex, crime, entertainment, drug and alcohol use, and race just to name a few.  When you've completed an episode, I can pretty much guarantee that you will have learned something new and something that piques your interests.

        The Five, by Hallie Rubenhold, is about one of the most notorious episodes of British history, Jack the Ripper's murder spree in the Whitehall district of London in 1888.  There have been probably hundreds of stories, books, and plays about Jack the Ripper and the mystery of his identity, but, until The Five, very few people bothered to look into the lives of the five victims. They were reduced to streetwalkers who were horribly mutilated by the unknown Ripper. Rubenhold  actually investigates and goes into great detail about the five women. Each woman becomes a real character, with her own personality and problems, and it turns out that the newspapers and police of the day perpetuated assumptions and lies about that women that persist till this day. For example, none of the women was actively involved in prostitution at the time of her murder, although some of them had been sex workers at some point in their lives. Also, they were mostly likely murdered while they were asleep.  

    I've most recently finished The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream.  Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was, at one time, as notorious as Jack the Ripper, at least in the UK, but he was every bit as brazen and outrageous as Jack the Ripper. Born in Scotland in 1850, Cream immigrated with his family to Canada as a child. His father became a wealthy businessman, and Thomas became a doctor, living and practicing in various places in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. For years, he got away with murder, literally, poisoning mostly female sex workers or women who came to him for an illegal abortion. He was quite vocal about his habit of killing women and even sent several letters aimed at blackmailing various people, threatening to accuse them of the murders if they didn't pay him. He was actually caught numerous times, even sentenced to life imprisonment in Illinois at one point, but he was released, and he moved to London to continue his murders. Scotland Yard finally caught up to him, and his trial was one of the most interesting and impactful trials in the 19th century.

 

Judging a Book by Its Cover: Upcoming Releases in 2022, Part 2

 Here are some soon-to-be-released books about history that will be released over the next three months. These are the ones that look interesting to me. If they catch your eye, you can look up their descriptions for more information. Their release date is given.

 Feb. 15

 Feb. 1

 March 1

 March 1

 Feb. 22

 Feb. 1

 Feb. 8

 Feb. 15

 March 8

Judging a Book by Its Cover: Upcoming Releases in 2022, Part 1

     Here are some soon-to-be-released books about history that will be released over the next three months. These are the ones that look interesting to me. If they catch your eye, you can look up their descriptions for more information. Their release date is given.

 Jan.11

 Jan. 18

Feb. 22

Jan. 25

 Jan. 25

 Feb.1

Jan. 18

Jan. 25

 Jan. 11