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Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Rescuing Australia’s lost literary treasures

Have you ever gone looking for a particular book and discovered it can’t be found for love nor money?

If so, that’s no surprise. Most Australian books written are now out-of-print and unavailable to readers.

When books go out of print, authors usually have the right to reclaim their copyrights. But what then? Digitising books is expensive, and authors who make that investment and start selling them online (via Amazon, for example) often find that they sink without a trace.

And they can’t make them available in libraries, because those licensing arrangements are all built to go through publishers.

In a new collaboration between authors, libraries and researchers, we’re setting out to change all that.



Untapped: the Australian Literary Heritage Project is creating the infrastructure necessary to rescue Australia’s lost literary treasures and bring them properly back to life.

Working with a national team of library collections experts, we’re building a list of culturally-important lost books, then working with authors to digitise them, license them into libraries, and make them available for sale.



Saturday, November 21, 2020

The Long and Terrifying History of the Blood Libel

From The Nation - review by David Nirenberg:
Among the more unpleasant mythemes that one group of humans has devised about another is the blood libel: the claim that Jews murder Christian children, often around Easter, and use their blood in Passover rituals. Bits and pieces of this myth date back to ancient times. 

But the specific ingredients of the blood libel—innocent children murdered by conspiratorial Jews for blood rituals—were not baked into narrative until a child’s corpse was discovered in 12th century England and an enterprising monk accused the local Jewish community of murder. That first accusation sputtered out, but others soon followed in France and Germany that sometimes resulted in the execution of entire communities. With the invention of the printing press, the myth spread even more widely, throughout Eastern Europe and, with colonialism, into the Middle East and beyond. 

Magda Teter’s terrifying and learned new book, Blood Libel: On the Trail of an Antisemitic Myth, examines some of the long history of this pernicious idea. Her focus is firmly on the past and especially on the death in 1473 of one toddler, Simon of Trent. Teter sets out to document how the information about Simon’s death circulated during and after the trial and how it eventually flowed into Eastern Europe, where the myth put down some of its deepest and cruelest roots. She certainly succeeds in that historical task. While her claims are specific and circumspect, her book can be read more broadly as an allegory for our age, a story about how technological change, religious beliefs, struggles for power, and a politics of demonization can produce memes capable of transmitting the potential for violence across vast amounts of time and space.


read more here @ The Nation

Medieval mystery unlocked: The Light of Ages by Seb Falk

From Express:
THE MEDIEVAL knack for stories and myths has created some of the world's most sought after mysteries, pushing scores of the Middle Ages' most groundbreaking scientific achievements from the history books, an historian told Express.

Religious myths adorn the Medieval period. Things like the Shroud of Turin have captured the imaginations and speculation of academics, religious figures and history buffs the world over. Yet, it is so-called mysteries like the Shroud that, in fact, have quickly overshadowed the true pioneering discoveries that were characteristic of the Middle Ages, according to Dr Seb Falk, a Medieval historian at the University of Cambridge. Science boomed in the period that is generally accepted to run from the 5th to the 15th century.  There was a whole slew of inventions that we still use today.



From the Publisher:
A spellbinding journey through the life of an English monk, an age of discovery and the mysteries of the medieval mind

The Middle Ages were a time of wonder. They gave us the first universities, the first eyeglasses and the first mechanical clocks as medieval thinkers sought to understand the world around them, from the passing of the seasons to the stars in the sky. In this book, we walk the path of medieval science with a real-life guide, a fourteenth-century monk named John of Westwyk - inventor, astrologer, crusader - who was educated in England's grandest monastery and exiled to a clifftop priory. Following the traces of his life, we learn to see the natural world through Brother John's eyes: navigating by the stars, multiplying Roman numerals, curing disease and telling the time with an astrolabe. We travel the length and breadth of England, from Saint Albans to Tynemouth, and venture far beyond the shores of Britain. On our way, we encounter a remarkable cast of characters: the clock-building English abbot with leprosy, the French craftsman-turned-spy and the Persian polymath who founded the world's most advanced observatory.An enthralling story of the struggles and successes of an ordinary man and an extraordinary time, The Light Ages conjures up a vivid picture of the medieval world as we have never seen it before. 


Thursday, November 19, 2020

Revew: The Quarant by Graham Bullen

The Quarant

Synopsis: January, 1348. They say bad things come in threes...

The day after an earthquake and tsunami have ravaged Venice, Malin Le Cordier, a successful English maritime trader, sails into the city with plans to mature a coup on behalf of Edward III and Genoa. His time? Short. His guilt? Strong. Keeping the coup a secret from those he loves most weighs heavy on his soul. But Venice is a place with secrets and revenge flows through the city like its canals. For his sake and those he is bound to, it is best he learn to navigate it. And quickly.

Unbeknownst to Malin, there is someone powerful in the city who seeks revenge on Edward III on behalf of his family. Well-situated, he operates under covert circumstances, monitoring Malin’s every move - and playing his own long game, merely waiting for the perfect time to strike.

Combining greed and guilt, revenge and undeclared love, this is one trip that Malin may not live to regret.



Venice to the 14th Century. 
From the time of her 5th century foundation on Torcello, Venice has been unique - a small self-governing community of refugees, growing rich on its own audacious merits. In an attempt to preserve its republican identity, reforms were put in place to ensure that the position of the doge (who holds office until death) does not devolve into a hereditary signore. From the 11th century, the government of Venice and its colonies is removed from the sole personal responsibility of the doge and is transferred into the hands of powerful councils. The supreme body is the Great Council of 45 members, with ultimate responsibility for state affairs. On day-to-day matters an executive Minor Council of six members is appointed to guide the doge. Over the years Venice's councils grow and proliferate.

During the 13th century the Great Council expands from 45 members to 60 and then 100. A new Council of Forty is added at some time before 1223, followed by another body of 60 members with special responsibility for financial affairs; this is the Consiglio dei Rogati, known also as the Senate. A Council of Ten is added in 1310, to check on everybody else.  Though richly attired and publicly honoured, the Doge is essentially a powerless figurehead. The system is brilliantly devised to preserve the status quo in two ways - preventing the present doge's family from acquiring power and preventing the wider group of patrician families from losing it.


The doge is not allowed to engage in trade or any financial activity. No member of his family may hold office in government or serve on the councils. Safeguards are in place to prevent an election being rigged (the final group of electors is chosen by lot). Similarly stringent measures are introduced to prevent outsiders getting in. Between 1290 and 1300 the so-called 'closing of the Great Council' limits membership to those families which have provided members in the past. Oligarchy is thus enshrined, in a system which survived until the French Revolution. 

With a greater increase in trade, travel and pilgrimage to the eastern Mediterranean, Venice had the skills to provide the transport and already established trade concessions.  However, there is soon a strong rivalry from two other great maritime communes, Genoa and Pisa.  Both cities subsequently develop extensive trade in the western Mediterranean. Genoa also plays a large part in the crusades, establishing strong trading links in the eastern Mediterranean and coming into direct competition with Venice. Warfare between these two Italian city states is long and intermittent, with Venice by no means always the stronger - until the issue is finally resolved in 1380 at Chioggia when Venice finally defeats Genoa and becomes the undisputed maritime power in eastern waters.


The Black Death.
Plague was reportedly first introduced to Europe via Genoese traders from their port city of Kaffa in the Crimea in 1347. As the disease took hold, Genoese traders fled across the Black Sea to Constantinople, Carried by twelve Genoese galleys, plague arrived by ship in Sicily in October 1347; the disease spread rapidly all over the island. Galleys from Kaffa reached Genoa and Venice in January 1348 with devasting effect, spreading across Europe and into Scandinavia by 1350, and finally Russia in 1351. The disease spread so rapidly that before any physicians or government authorities had time to reflect upon its origins, about a third of the European population had already perished. Within two years (1348-1439), plague had spread throughout the Islamic world, from Arabia across North Africa.



Review
A merchant ship from Dieppe arrives in Venice after a devastating earthquake and tsunami have struck the city.  On board, a man with an agenda known only to a few.  We follow this merchant, Malin Le Cordier, as he and his associates play a deadly political game with La Serenissima - the price of failure being exceedingly high, the chance of betrayal overwhelming. 

The story evolves over a period of forty days - the Quarant - or the period of time a merchant vessel arriving in Venice will spend in quarantine. We accompany the main characters through the highs and lows of their conspiracy, which culminates in the final, thrilling betrayal. 

Bullen's attention to detail in describing both the physical and political landscape is superb, and we experience the sense of urgency as the characters do as we are propelled towards zero hour. 

The characters represent the medieval melting-pot that was Venice.  We have Malin and Symon, Bourchier and Mainard from England (and Scotland); the native Venetians; Florentine spies, and German mercenaries. Yet it is with Malin that the reader will find themselves centred.  The conspirators are akin to the spoked wheel - Malin is the hub from which all others - the radiating rods - are connected.

The roles and motivations of those involved in the conspiracy is gradually revealed, as plans coalesce, and the danger of discovery becomes greater every day.  The reader finds their own pulse racing as events take a turn, this way and that.

Venice is a city run on secrets - and I have provided some links below for further exploration into England's dealings with Venice, espionage and diplomatic relations, and well as some other themes that are running through the narrative.

This is period of history is one in which I am fairly well read and it was highly enjoyable to read a thrilling (fictional) account set in medieval Venice, with quite a decent dose of authenticity.


further reading:
- The Economic History of Venice
- Secret Venice: The Council of Ten and Medieval Espionage
- Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 1, 1202-1509
- Hanseatic League
- Venice & Its Minorities
- Battle of Dupplin Moor
- Plague In Venice



Sunday, November 15, 2020

Review: The Syndicate Six Murder by Geoffrey Osborne

The Syndicate Six Murder

Synopsis: A Jacobean mansion. A body in a chest.

Detective Superintendent Ralph Blade never liked Detective Harold Ashington. These two men had history. Ashington never forgave Blade for marrying his former girlfriend, Julie, and he was convinced the Blades’ son was his own.

Now Ashington is dead, murdered at the world-famous Police Staff College in the heart of rural Hampshire. And Julie can’t explain why she had planned to meet him on the night he died. Has a forgotten love triangle turned deadly?

But Ashington was a bully and a blackmailer, and widely disliked. There are plenty of other suspects — and all of them are either senior police officers or closely connected to the force. Then Blade’s prime suspect and one of his team are brutally attacked and left for dead.  Can Blade and his new second-in-command Detective Dorothy Fraser uncover who has motive, means and opportunity?



A pacey murder mystery set in a Police Training College where the victim, the suspects, and the investigators are all police officers. What could possibly go wrong!

Though by (my) normal standards this is a short book at only 164 pages, it feels much longer. The chapters themselves are not overly long though there is much to be gleaned from each.

I enjoyed the storyline and the fact that the author used a real location and object in which to set his crime. Bramshill was a world-famous Police Staff College situated in north-east Hampshire.  It laid claim to a large country estate, including a lake, and the Jacobean mansion where the recruits trained.

It is into this setting that we follow DS Ralph Blade and his team as they investigate the murder of a man for whom many will not shed a tear for the victim, Chief Superintendent Harold Ashington of Scotland Yard, was a truly despicable man, and as such, there is an over abundance of suspects and motives that need to be investigated. Chief among the list of suspects with a suitable motive is DS Blade and his family and for Blade, the motive, long thought buried in the past, surfaces and his family is drawn in. But Blade is not the only credible suspect - there are others, many others, including colleagues and the victim's own wife!

As with all police procedurals, the build up is slow and steady as we tag along with the investigating officers until all is ready to be revealed.

Review: Easy Motion Tourist by Leye Adenle

Easy Motion TouristSynopsis: Easy Motion Tourist is a compelling crime novel set in contemporary Lagos. It features Guy Collins, a British hack who stumbles by chance into the murky underworld of the city. A woman's mutilated body is discarded by the side of a club near one of the main hotels in Victoria Island. Collins, a bystander, is picked up by the police as a potential suspect. After experiencing the unpleasant realities of a Nigerian police cell, he is rescued by Amaka, a Pam Grier-esque Blaxploitation heroine with a saintly streak. As Collins discovers more of the darker aspects of what makes Lagos tick - including the clandestine trade in organs - he also falls slowly for Amaka. Little do they realise how the body parts business is wrapped up in the power and politics of the city. The novel features a motley cast of supporting characters, including a memorable duo of low-level Lagos gangsters, Knockout and Go-Slow. Easy Motion Tourist pulsates with the rhythms of Lagos, reeks of its open drains, and entertains from beginning to end. A modern thriller featuring a strong female protagonist, prepared to take on the Nigerian criminal world on her own.



This is Nigerian noir fiction in all its gory glory.

On his first night in Lagos, a British journalist ostensibly in the country to report on the forthcoming presidential elections finds himself in the midst of a crime scene - the brutal murder and mutilation of a young woman. Swept up by the local police, Guy Collins laments as he finds himself in a car with me who hadn't identified themselves as police nor read him his rights; he in turn had not asked for ID; and he was being driven who knows where and no-one knew he had been taken.

Enter one tough and determined woman, Amaka.  Who she actually is and what her role is we the reader are never quite sure of - suffice to say this is elaborated upon as we delve further into the murky Lagos underbelly where everyone is packing heat; sex and drugs are currency; corruption is rife and accepted; life is brutal and cheap; and its all about image and the perception of power - from gang members, to police to politicians.

This will certainly not be to everyone's liking but if you are interested in differing views of the crime genre then this would be a good starting point.  Looking forward to the next book - When Trouble Sleeps.


Sunday, November 8, 2020

'Queen of crime' Agatha Christie goes to Bollywood

From BBC News:
A murder takes place in a misty Himalayan hill resort. As the whodunit unfolds, a couple almost unwittingly begin sleuthing to get to the bottom of the crime. And the story is based on a novel by the world's most celebrated crime writer.

That's all Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj is willing to reveal now about his upcoming film, based on a novel by "queen of crime" Agatha Christie.

It is also the first time that Agatha Christie Limited, which looks after the author's estate, has franchised her stories to an Indian filmmaker. "We have done many adaptations across the world and every country brings its own flavour to the piece. I have no doubt that this will be the same," James Prichard, Christie's great grandson and the CEO of the estate, told me.

Bollywood's Christie would not be the first adaptation to have music and dance. An episode of a series in French - Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie - had "many musical numbers," says Prichard. "So never say never."

It's possibly apt that Christie is going to Bollywood in the 100th year since the publication of her first novel The Mysterious Affairs at Styles. Since then, an astonishing two billion copies of her books have sold in more than 100 languages, including English, according to her estate. Last year alone, her books sold more than two million copies. They have been adapted by television, film and theatre, a testament to their timelessness.



read more here @ BBC News

see also
- Bollywood Crime Thrillers Based On Agatha Christie Novels
- Bollywood Adaptions of Agatha Christie
- 6 Indian Movies Inspired By Agatha Christie


Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Siege Warfare during the Crusades by Michael Fulton

Sieges played a key role in the crusades, but they tend to be overshadowed by the famous battles fought between the Franks and the Muslims, and no detailed study of the subject has been published in recent times. 

He considers the history of siege warfare in the Holy Land from every angle – the tactics and technology, the fortifications, the composition of the opposing armies, and the ways in which sieges shaped Frankish and Muslim strategy at each stage of the conflict. The differences and similarities between the Eastern and Western traditions are explored, as is the impact of the shifting balance of power in the region.

The conclusions may surprise some readers. Neither the Muslims nor the Franks possessed a marked advantage in siege technology or tactics, their fortifications reflected different purposes and an evolving political environment and, although there were improvements in technologies and fortifications, the essence of siege warfare remained relatively consistent.



read review by Peter Purton @ De Re Militari

A Few Thoughts and Speculations on the State of Irish Crime Fiction

From CrimeReads:
Generally speaking, while American mystery writers tend to make the Irish lists on a regular basis, British ones do not. We can speculate on the reasons, among which may be a certain unconscious Irish resistance, based on our complicated history with our nearest geographical neighbour, to embracing British police officers—even fictional ones—as entirely trustworthy figures when it comes to issues of law and justice. Escapism may also play a part, Britain being rather too close, and too familiar, to permit it.

The model of Irish mystery fiction that has emerged in recent years is almost entirely female. I think I may be the only Irish male mystery writer to make the Irish bestseller lists, in part because I’ve been knocking around for a while, but also, perhaps, because I don’t write about Ireland.


read more here from author John ConnollyCrimeReads

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Review: The White Ship by Charles Spencer

Synopsis: The sinking of the White Ship is one of the greatest disasters in English history. Here, Sunday Times bestselling author Charles Spencer tells the real story behind the legend to show how one cataclysmic shipwreck changed England’s course.

In 1120, the White Ship was known as the fastest ship afloat. When it sank sailing from Normandy to England it was carrying aboard the only legitimate heir to King Henry I, William of Ætheling. The raucous, arrogant young prince had made a party of the voyage, carousing with his companions and pushing wine into the eager hands of the crew. It was the middle of the night when the drunken helmsman rammed the ship into rocks.

The next day only one of the three hundred who had boarded the ship was alive to describe the horrors of the slow shipwreck. William, the face of England’s future had drowned along with scores of the social elite. The royal line severed and with no obvious heir to the crown, a civil war of untold violence erupted. Known fittingly as ‘The Anarchy’, this game of thrones saw families turned in on each other, with English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders and Scottish invaders all playing a part in the bloody, desperate scrum for power.

One incredible shipwreck and two decades of violent uncertainty; England’s course had changed forever. 



Spencer uses the White Ship itself as an anchor for the story of one of the most tragic events in English history - in fact Spencer writes, "... there as not a part of Henry's Anglo-Norman realm that remained shielded from the impact of the catastrophe ...".

In this tale, Spencer takes you the reader on a tour of the timeline of events from William the Conqueror leading up to the tragedy at sea, and the repercussions for the English throne beyond this.

His narrative is casual, almost conversational, as if he were giving you a conducted tour of Althorp. Yet this same narrative, with the gentle resonance of Spencer's voice, is concise, informative not dry or stuffy. For me, this is well-worn ground - however, I at no time found my attention waivering only eagerly looking forward to the build up to the disaster and to the fate of England, left without a legitimate male heir for the concept of a woman ruling in the 12th century was anathema in both England and Normandy. Spencer takes us through an abridged version of what became known as "The Anarchy" finishing up with the settlement of succession onto Henry Plantagenet.

Spencer finishes with this rather poignant quote from William of Malmesbury "... no ship that ever sailed brought England such disaster ..."

Highly recommended and one I will be adding to my shelves (upon which I already have two of Spencer's books - Killers of the King and To Catch A King).


Further reading:
The Anarchy by Teresa Cole
The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign edited by Edmund King
King Stephen & The Anarchy by Chris Peers
Stephen & Matilda's Civil War by Matthew Lewis
Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior by Catherine Hanley
Stephen & Matilda by Jim Bradbury
The Normans by David Crouch
Henry I by Judith Green
King Stephen's Reign by Graeme White & Paul Dalton

The White Ship by Nicholas Salaman (fictional account)

Review: The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich

Synopsis: No one knew who she was, where she came from, or why she had entered their lives. All they really knew about her was that she possessed a terrifying beauty-and that each time she appeared, a man died horribly...






The first in Cornell Woolrich's "black" series of novels - the others being The Black Curtain, Black Alibi, The Black Angel, The Black Path of Fear, Rendezvous in Black.

I think it is a wonderful tale of revenge wherein the motive lies back in the past - for as we all know, revenge is a dish best served cold (and on the best china!).

This novel also diverges from the standard mystery genre in that the focus is not on the cat and mouse chase of thevsuspect and detective, rather on the suspect and victims. The narrative is clearly separated into each of the victims and always begins with the arrival of "the bride" before we get into the details of each murder. The set up for each murder is given ample page-time. However, it is not until we reach the very last that things are not so clear cut, and the motive and the final denouement do not reach us until the very last pages - even then, things take another surprising turn.

As to the main characters, the detective - Lew Wanger - in this instance is merely there to summerise the known facts. He is constantly being frustrated by his superiors who refuse to believe there is any connections between the crimes, all of which display different "modus operandi" in the execution (pardon the pun). Only as we progress from murder to murder does his role become a little more fuller as he begins to connect the dots and the author allows him more of our attention. And yet upon reflection, "the bride" herself is seemingly kept at arms length too - we don't really know her story until its conclusion.

This novel is well worth exploring - and I look forward to more from the series.

And for those interested, Woolrich was the author of numerous classic novels and short stories (many of which were turned into classic films) such as Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Waltz Into Darkness, and I Married a Dead Man. Many also claim that The Bride Wore Black may have been the inspiration behind "Kill Bill" though Tarrantino declare that is not so.

Review: 1066 - A Guide to the Battles and the Campaigns by Livingston & DeVries

Synopsis: The Battle of Hastings, fought on 14 October 1066, changed the course of English history. This most famous moment of the Norman Conquest was recorded in graphic detail in the threads of the Bayeux Tapestry, providing a priceless glimpse into a brutal conflict.

In this fresh look at the battle and its surrounding campaigns, leading medieval military historians Michael Livingston and Kelly DeVries combine the imagery of the tapestry with the latest modern investigative research to reveal the story of Hastings as it has never been told and guide visitors around the battlefield today.

This absorbing new account of the battle will be fascinating reading for anyone keen to find out what really happened in 1066: the journeys by which Harold Godwinson and William of Normandy came to the battlefield, and the latest reconstructions of the course of the fighting on that momentous day. It is also a practical, easy-to-use guide for visitors to the sites associated with the conquest as well as the Hastings battlefield itself.



This is a well researched and easy to read entry into the period immediately before, during and after the Norman Invasion of England in 1066.

Written so that even someone with no knowledge of events can follow, Livingston and DeVries provide ample information without overwhelming the reader with a vast amount of research. What they do provide is an analysis of the events, battles and key players, whilst using separate text boxes for other key subject matters (ie: weapons, armies, tactics, etc). Each chapter includes or is finished with what the authors term as a "tour" of places and structures pivotal to the events.

The narrative is written simply yet informatively, utilising known chroniclers, the sagas, archaeological evidence, photos and maps to gently guide the reader. An extensive reading list concludes.

Definitely a book to be considered as a primer or introductory text for the Norman Invasion of 1066.


Sunday, November 1, 2020

Review: American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson

Sysnopsis: The story of the birth of criminal investigation in the twentieth century. , California, 1933. In a lab filled with curiosities--beakers, microscopes, Bunsen burners, and hundreds upon hundreds of books--sat an investigator who would go on to crack at least two thousand cases in his forty-year career. Known as the "American Sherlock Holmes," Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of America's greatest--and first--forensic scientists, with an uncanny knack for finding clues, establishing evidence, and deducing answers with a skill that seemed almost supernatural.

Heinrich was one of the nation's first expert witnesses, working in a time when the turmoil of Prohibition led to sensationalized crime reporting and only a small, systematic study of evidence. However with his brilliance, and commanding presence in both the courtroom and at crime scenes, Heinrich spearheaded the invention of a myriad of new forensic tools that police still use today, including blood spatter analysis, ballistics, lie-detector tests, and the use of fingerprints as courtroom evidence. His work, though not without its serious--some would say fatal--flaws, changed the course of American criminal investigation.

Based on years of research and thousands of never-before-published primary source materials, American Sherlock captures the life of the man who pioneered the science our legal system now relies upon--as well as the limits of those techniques and the very human experts who wield them.



This is an excellent story of one of America's most prominent forensic scientist of the 1920s - 1950s. Suffice to say this is definitely one for all those who love to read about the development of forensic science as applied to crime.

The author introduces us - albeit briefly - to a man who has been lauded as one of the greatest forensic scientists of his time. A man who in his forty year career pioneered many forensic techniques still in use today; who opened his own private lab at his own expense; who became one of the first expert witnesses to be called upon; who was a father, husband, teacher, friend, and at times, curmudgeonly, arrogant and obsessive.

Kate Winkler Dawson comments that the "... archaic methods of crime fighting in the 1920s, procedures depending on hunches and weak circumstantial evidence, were futile ..... police were outnumbered and many times outsmarted ...". Here this mostly self taught man came into his own, with his knowledge of many disciplines that could be applied to the analysis of a crime scene.

The author looks at eight particular crimes in which Heinrich developed new techniques for detection or improved upon older ones. Each chapter is entitled "the Case of ...." (a bit like an episode of Perry Mason) and includes one on Heinrich himself, wherein the author delves into his personal history. All of the cases are fairly well known and take place in the 1920 and 1930s - so no spoiler alerts required.


The Case of Allene Lamson's Bath is spread over two chapters - one at the very beginning and one at the end. However, this first part essentially deals with the murder of said woman in her bath and the arrest of her husband (1933). Much of this case focused on blood spatter patterns, which he first introduced at a trial in 1925. The completion will be much later in the story, when we are taking through the trial of David Lamson - and the battle of the expert witnesses.

As mentioned, there is a chapter on young Oscar as he is known - The Case of Oscar's Demons. This is where (as mentioned above) we learn more about Heinrich and his entree into the world of crime and forensic science.

Chapter three - The Case of the Baker's Handwriting - focuses on the profiling of the suspect, the deciphering and analysis of handwriting, and .. the use of the first polygraph machine. In this instance, the case involves the kidnapping and ransom of a local priest, Father Patrick Heslin (1921). We are also taken through Oscar's rivalry with two other experts (he was third chair) and here we see the beginnings of his contempt for others whose skills are not in the same league as his own.

The notorious case of Hollywood actor Fatty Arbuckle is dealt with in the next chapter, The Case of the Star's Fingerprints. Obviously, it is the identification and analysis of fingerprints that sees Heninrich participating in this trial. It is also one in which his own credibility and reputation are called into question - and his views on Hollywood sees his personal feelings influencing his usually logical judgement.

The Case of the Great Train Heist two years later saw him brought in to profile suspects based on the evidence they left behind both at the scene and also in hidden caches. Again, handwriting comparison was a featured technique. Success was not immediate - the culprits were captured after four years on the run; however, business did increase and he was called upon as a criminologist.

Oscar Heinrich was not quiet in these years. He worked on many other cases from kidnapping, forgeries, murder - including the mysterious murder of Hollywood producer, William Desmond Taylor - a case still unsolved today. We also see a different side to Oscar - his fascination with writing detective stories, his obsessive compulsion with regards to data gathering and storage, and the collation of dossiers that he kept on both himself and his rivals.

Oscar's next big case was in 1925 and involved a noted chemist - the Case of the Calculating Chemist - who, after involvement in a sexual scandal, was found dead in his lab. Unfortunately not all was what it seemed, and saw Oscar delving into the realm of forensic anthropology - making some startling discoveries that would be more in line with an episode of the TV series "Bones".

However, Heninrich would not be so lucky in his next big case of that same year - the Case of Bessie Ferguson's Ear - which despite his profile of the suspect, soil and particle analysis, forensic entomology, the killer evaded authorities. On a more personal note, Oscar teaching methods were being called into question by his friend and confidant John Kaiser whilst at the same time he himself was compiling a long list of professional enemies, people whom he felt were encroaching on his territory of forensics. I guess bringing the science of forensics into the public forum was a bit of a double edged sword - it made the science more accessible but also created more scientists thus reducing his lucrative casework - and for Oscar, with his eye always on the financial bottom line, this was most distressing.

Again, Henirich was still called upon to work on many cases which saw the use of utra-violet light to reveal blood, the use of toxicology to reveal poison. However, when it came to presenting his findings in court, he more often than not put the jury offside, confusing them with his explanation. Unfortunately, his extreme hubris was also turning other experts against him too. Whilst Oscar's lab was funded by him privately, many new forensic experts were creating fnancially lucrative partnerships at labs funded by universities - and the competition for their services was quite vigorous.

In one of the final cases presented - the Case of Marty Caldwell's Gun - it is in the areas of ballistics analysis and his use of the comparison microscope (developed by Calvin Goddard and Phillip Gravelle). Up against his old rival and the conflicting information presented in court, Heinrich set up his equipment in court and invited the jurors to see for themselves - this was the first time such a thing was done.

We finish with the conclusion of the Alleme Lamson case, one in which we find Oscar on the side of the defendant rather than the prosecution. It was a messy case that went on for years, and saw the accused writing a book which was adapted into a movie. This case also called into question the bias of the judicial system, the harassment of jurors, and for Oscar, he too learned a valuable lesson - jurors reject what they don't easily understand - something which can make or break a case.


This fascinating read concludes with a follow up on the major players of the time; discusses the many methods developed by Oscar which are still used today, including his meticulous cataloguing of evidence; and gives us a brief run-down of his son's careers. Oscar was a rarity - in his own time and quite possibly even now. He was a mostly self taught man whose expertise encompassed many disciplines. I guess we must thank his life long confidant John Kaiser for ensuring materials of scientific interest were continually forwarded onto Oscar for use in the development of scientific methods.

This biography is presented in an easily read and understood manner - exploring all facets of the life of this unique man and also his methodologies. A highly recommended read for those with an interest in the development of forensic science and detecting techniques.


The Cases:
Allene Lamson's Bath

The Baker's Handwriting

The Star's Fingerprints

The Great Train Heist
- Southern Oregon Historical Society - Ray DeAutremont
- Southern Oregon Historical Society - Roy DeAutremont
- Southern Oregon Historical Society - Hugh DeAutremont

The Calculating Chemist

Bessie Ferguson's Ear

Marty Colwell's Gun


Further Reading




Ken Follett’s ‘Pillars of the Earth’ prequel is just as transporting - and lengthy - as his famous epic

Ken Follett came to prominence in the 1970s with a string of international bestsellers, chief among them the Edgar Award-winning Eye of the Needle. It seemed back then that he had found a comfortable niche as a thriller writer in the manner of such contemporaries as Robert Ludlum and David Morrell. That perception changed dramatically with the 1989 publication of The Pillars of the Earth, a thousand-page epic focussed on the decades-long construction of a cathedral in medieval England. The novel was an immense gamble and an equally immense success, selling millions of copies and creating a template for the sort of vast historical dramas that would dominate Follett’s fiction in the years to come.


Follett returned to Kingsbridge, the primary setting of Pillars, in two subsequent novels: World Without End and A Column of Fire continue Follett’s absorbing, deeply researched fictional history of England, carrying the story forward to the early 17th Century and the religious conflicts of the Elizabethan age. In his latest, The Evening and the Morning, Follett moves backward in time to the Dark Ages. The story concerns the gradual creation of the town of Kingsbridge and of the many people – priests, nobles, peasants, the enslaved – who played significant roles.

As Follett notes in his afterword, the Dark Ages left relatively little concrete evidence behind, leaving “room for guesswork and disagreement”. His re-creation of the period – the hazards, the harsh physical realities, the competing influences of politics and religion – is detailed and convincing, providing a solid underpinning to the later installments of the Kingsbridge series. The Evening and the Morning begins in 997 and ends 10 years later, a relatively compressed period for a Follett novel. There is no overarching plot, but rather a series of subplots involving the adventures, misadventures and struggles of a socially diverse cast of characters.


read more here @ Borneo Bulletin Online

How Alphabetical Order Took Over the Modern World

In the 20th century, alphabetical order appeared to be immortal. No longer could anyone at home in an alphabetic writing system remember a time when the automatic response to ordering had not been alphabetical. In fact, it often seemed that the chaos and fecundity of the world could be tamed by the power of alphabetization alone.


Paul Otlet (1868–1944) was a Belgian visionary who wanted to—and believed he could—categorize all the information in the world. Anything ever written in a book, everything ever known, could be compressed, he believed, into a card system: one nugget of knowledge per index card, all filed in alphabetical order, whence any information about anything, anyone, anywhere, at any time, could be retrieved. Otlet began modestly in the 1890s, creating a bibliography of sociological literature. He then spread his wings to found the International Institute of Bibliography in Brussels, which drew on as many library catalogues and bibliographies as could be consulted to compile a summary, and summation, he hoped, of all libraries and all books: “an inventory of all that has been written at all times, in all languages, and on all subjects.” Otlet then established a subscription service that supplied his customers monthly with standardized cards filled with newly précised information. By 1900 he had 300 full members, and by the outbreak of the First World War another 1,500 people annually were approaching the Institute for information.

read more here @ Time Magazine