Lawrence James
Painting the Map Red
Running the Show: Governors of the British Empire 1857–1912
By Stephanie Williams
Viking 493pp £20
There was only one qualification needed for the post of a Victorian colonial governor: he had to be a gentleman. But gentlemen had to be tough and ingenious. Laying down the law in Lagos in the 1860s, John Glover placed a white feather in each of the sacred trees revered by a restless local tribe. He warned its chiefs that if they sent their warriors to war, then the feathers would ‘whisper in my ear and tell me what you will do and I will come, I and my chiefs with the army of the “Great White Queen” and I will wipe you out of the land, and there will be wailing in your camp’.
Glover belonged to a generation of adventurer-proconsuls, the counterpart of G A Henty’s ‘plucky’ lads who brought peace to the frontiers by sheer force of personality. Glover had won his spurs as a naval officer in the jungle wars in Burma. William Douglas, governor of Australia’s Northern Territory,
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm