Naughty Boys: Ten Rogues of Oxford - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Naughty Boys: Ten Rogues of Oxford write by Rob Walters. This book was released on 2009-12-08. Naughty Boys: Ten Rogues of Oxford available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. This book will take you on a journey, a journey through Oxford and a journey through the lives of ten roguish males. All of the men have at least two things in common: a strong association with Oxford, and some claim to be a rogue. They are all famous in some way or another, some tending towards infamy. All but one has spent time at one of Oxford’s famous colleges, though only a few obtained an academic award during their stay in the city. The stories in this book are rich in human interest, from the sexual romps and salacious poetry of Lord Rochester to the elopements and romantic poetry of Percy Shelley. From the marriages and drinking of actor Richard Burton, to the expulsion and explorations of his Victorian namesake, Sir Richard Burton. From the trail of whoring and infidelity of author Graham Greene to the double-talk and double-dealings of ex-president Bill Clinton. From the drug dealing and identity fraud of Howard Marks to the claims of William Davenant to be the son of Shakespeare. From the greed and arrogance of Robert Maxwell to the addictive gambling of the author of The English Rogue, Richard Head. The devil would have to cast his net very widely to entrap this lot, though they could all be found within the intriguing streets and eminent building of Oxford at some time in their lives. Those lives are linked by the locations that most characterised their stay in Oxford, thus creating a unique trail through the ‘city of dreaming spires’ and an opportunity to stop and wonder at the buildings that grace its golden heart. The men of this book are as complex as the city, their characters forming a patchwork upon which to establish a trail that is quite unique. Their lives are differently characterised by: aesthetics, creativity, humour, intoxication, romance, licentiousness, avarice, desire, ambition, daring and lawlessness. And through them all runs this roguish streak, a trait that charms forgiveness from those who are damaged by them - though not always. Like the streets of Oxford, rogues can turn. A charming alleyway can become the scene of a rape; a poet can suddenly take out a loaded pistol. A friendly pub can suddenly become the scene of a riot; a night of love can be the seed of a wasting disease. A leafy tree can fall and crush a beautiful young woman; a happy drunk can become a pugilist. It is this edge that makes a rogue dangerous to live with – yet interesting to read about.
Rogue Males: Richard Burton, Howard Marks and Sir Richard Burton
Rogue Males: Richard Burton, Howard Marks and Sir Richard Burton - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Rogue Males: Richard Burton, Howard Marks and Sir Richard Burton write by Rob Walters. This book was released on 2006-12-12. Rogue Males: Richard Burton, Howard Marks and Sir Richard Burton available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Sir Richard Burton is best known as an explorer and translator of Arabian and Indian books, many of them sexually explicit. He was known as “Ruffian Dick” and led a life well beyond the pale of the typical Victorian. Richard Burton was a very famous actor with a brilliant voice and the looks to accompany it. Sometimes known as “Beer Burton”, he married Elizabeth Taylor twice and led a life which was often as dramatic as the characters that he played. Howard Marks became famous as a cannabis smuggler. He used the alias “Mr Nice” and adopted this as the title of a book that describes his exploits and ultimate incarceration in an American jail. Each of these men has a roguish streak to their character, but they also have a number of other things in common – one of which is that they each began their adult life at Oxford University. In fact they attended three colleges which stand, cheek by jowl on Oxford’s Broad Street: Exeter, Balliol and Trinity. Each was a master of disguise, though for rather different ends. Each was a great traveller, Howard for the drug trafficking, Richard for the film sets and Sir Richard for exploration and consular duties. They were all writers. Two of them were Welsh, two shared a name, two are dead, and all three are famous in their different ways. Finally they were all iconoclasts, mould breakers in different times and in different worlds. This book illuminates the fascinating lives of each of these interesting men, but also speculates on how they might react to each other. It recreates the Oxford that bred them, traces their subsequent lives, and then leads them back to the city so that they can meet and discourse upon: American hegemony, the freedom to consume drugs, the role of feminism and the value of education. These topics are exposed to the soaring intellectuality and conservatism of the older Burton, the articulation of the younger Burton and the liberality of Marks. The results are sometimes shocking, always interesting, and often edifying.
Shakespeare's Bastard
Shakespeare's Bastard - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Shakespeare's Bastard write by Simon Stirling. This book was released on 2016-02-04. Shakespeare's Bastard available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Sir William Davenant (1606–1668) – Poet Laureate and Civil War hero – is one of the most influential and neglected figures in the history of British theatre. He introduced ‘opera’, actresses, scenes and the proscenium arch to the English stage. Narrowly escaping execution for his Royalist activities during the Civil War, he revived theatrical performances in London, right under Oliver Cromwell’s nose. Nobody, perhaps, did more to secure Shakespeare’s reputation or to preserve the memory of the Bard.Davenant was known to boast over a glass of wine that he wrote ‘with the very spirit’ of Shakespeare and was happy to be thought of as Shakespeare’s son. By recounting the story of his eventful life backwards, through his many trials and triumphs, this biography culminates with a fresh examination of the vexed issue of Davenant’s paternity. Was Sir William’s mother the voluptuous and maddening ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and was he Shakespeare’s ‘lovely boy’?
Political Chemistry
Political Chemistry - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Political Chemistry write by Rob Walters. This book was released on 2014-05-27. Political Chemistry available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A fascinating set of fiction from fact conversations between two extraordinary women. Margaret Thatcher is known to all. Dorothy Hodgkin should be: she is Britain's only female scientific Nobel Prize winner, a reward for her groundbreaking work in determining the structure of penicillin and vitamin B12. It is difficult to imagine women more different in character and political beliefs, yet their lives were closely linked: Dorothy was Margaret's tutor when the younger woman studied chemistry at Oxford University; Margaret, as Prime Minister, invited her old tutor to lunch at Chequers. The setting for the conversations is Margaret's fourth year at Oxford while she carried out research work in Dorothy's crystallography lab. They range widely over topics from socialism to sexual freedom. No one knows exactly what they did discuss, but the conversations are soundly based in the factual world of post war Britain and reflect the characters of these two very interesting women.
Turkey Trove
Turkey Trove - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Turkey Trove write by Rob Walters. This book was released on . Turkey Trove available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Turkey, the historic bridge between Europe and the East, excites the imagination. In a collection of ten short stories Rob Walters provides a fascinating glimpse into the culture and characters of this special country. The tales embrace everything from ants to fireflies, ferocious dogs to rutting bulls and natural aphrodisiacs to underground cities; all based within this secular, Islamic nation. Though firmly based on the author’s experience of the country each tale has an imaginative and sometimes shocking twist. This is not a travelogue, though the backcloth moves across the entire breadth of Turkey embracing the account of a young woman stranded in an alien culture, the stoning of a less than generous tourist and the mystery of a vanishing minaret. Many of the stories are written from the traveller's viewpoint; others slip inside the skin of the modern day Turk. In this unique compilation you will get a glimpse into the mind of a Turkish tourist tout, experience an echo of the Ottoman society, face the danger of taking a lift with strangers, enjoy the delight of slipping into a welcoming community, share the fun of debunking local myths and the dangers of avoiding honey traps. This collection will make you think. It may also persuade you to visit Turkey – or maybe not.
