Richard Cavendish
The History Which Never Happened
Mythology of the British Isles
By Geoffrey Ashe
Methuen 304pp £17.99
This New Age Business
By Peter Lemesurier
Findhorn Press 234pp £8.95
King Lear’s father was a royal prince named Bladud. As a young man he contracted a repulsive skin disease and was sent away from court to be a swineherd. Unfortunately, the pigs began to suffer from the disease as well. Poor Bladud was horrified, but then the pigs went wallowing in the mud at a place where hot springs bubbled up from below ground. Noticing that it did them good, Bladud went wallowing himself, and was cured. He returned to the court and when he became king he founded the city of Bath at the springs. His swine were consequently the forerunners of all the best people in 18th-century England, who flocked to Bath to take the waters. Bladud ended his life as the victim of the first recorded flying accident in Britain. He made himself a pair of wings, soared up in the air above London, crashed and was killed.
Whether Geoffrey Ashe’s admirable new book really deals with mythology is questionable. If the stories it tells, like the one about Bladud, are myths, they are not the tales of the classical Greek kind. These are not tales of the Celtic gods and goddesses or the great supernatural heroes of
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
Are iPhones ruining children's lives? A prominent American psychologist thinks so.
@tiffanyjenkins is not so sure:
Tiffany Jenkins - The Smartphone Pandemic
Tiffany Jenkins: The Smartphone Pandemic - The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an...
literaryreview.co.uk
India's 'festival of democracy', or general election, begins next month. Like every good festival, it looks likely to have its fair share of murders and arrests.
@OwenBennettJon probes the state of democracy in India:
Owen Bennett-Jones - New Delhi Confidential
Owen Bennett-Jones: New Delhi Confidential - The Incarcerations: BK-16 and the Search for Democracy in India by Alpa Shah
literaryreview.co.uk
Where is the world's newest narcostate and why is it thriving?
@AdamBrookesWord investigates Asia's meth mecca.
Adam Brookes - Meth Comes to Myanmar
Adam Brookes: Meth Comes to Myanmar - Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Outwitted the CIA by Patrick Winn
literaryreview.co.uk