Jonathan Beckman
Political Pornography
A King’s Ransom: The Life of Charles Théveneau de Morande, Blackmailer, Scandalmonger and Master-Spy
By Simon Burrows
Continuum 288pp £20
Charles Théveneau de Morande was not a man who kept friends for long. Throughout his sordid and occasionally bizarre life within London’s émigré community during the 1770s and 1780s, he would repeatedly charm his fellow Frenchmen with his wit, energy and saucy jokes, only to turn on them shortly afterwards by libelling them in newsprint, challenging them to duels or trying to squeeze them for as much money as they seemed capable of coughing up. Even his longstanding friendship with Beaumarchais rested on the understanding that the playwright would bail out Morande’s debts so that certain incriminating documents never came to light. Yet Morande served the French monarchy until its extinction in the Terror. This is something of a surprise since he began his career as the author of an outrageous libelle against Louis XV.
Morande was born in 1741 in Arnay-le-Duc in Burgundy. His reprobate tendencies were evident from an early age: on one occasion he contrived to imprison the Father Superior of the local Capuchin monastery in his cell as the latter was waiting to be shaved. Morande’s father sent him
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