(pictured). First published in 1934, it concerns the misfortunes of Tony
Last, a contented but shallow English country squire who, betrayed by
his wife and seeing his illusions shattered one by one, joins an
expedition to the Brazilian jungle. Here he is trapped in a remote
outpost, as the prisoner and plaything of an insane captor, and is
forced to read the novels of Charles Dickens, aloud, in perpetuity.
Waugh incorporated several autobiographical elements into the story,
notably a journey into the South American interior undertaken in
1933–34, and his own recent desertion by his young wife. The book was
immediately popular with the public and has never been out of print; its
literary reputation has grown, and it has been listed among the 20th
century's best novels. Unlike in much of his work, Waugh did not
introduce overt religious themes into A Handful of Dust. He later
explained that he intended the book to demonstrate the futility of
humanist as distinct from religious values.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Handful_of_Dust>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1400:
Owain Glyndŵr (seal pictured) was proclaimed Prince of Wales
and instigated a revolt against the rule of Henry IV of England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glynd%C5%B5r_Rising>
1776:
American Revolutionary War: On hearing the British troops
sounding their bugles as if it were a fox hunt, the American colonists
held their ground and achieved a victory at the Battle of Harlem Heights
in present-day New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harlem_Heights>
1810:
Miguel Hidalgo, the parish priest in Dolores, Guanajuato,
delivered the Grito de Dolores to his congregation, instigating the
Mexican War of Independence against Spain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grito_de_Dolores>
1940:
World War II: Italy captured the town of Sidi Barrani, but
their invasion of Egypt progressed no further.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_invasion_of_Egypt>
1990:
Construction of the Northern Xinjiang Railway was completed
between Ürümqi and Alashankou, linking the railway lines of China and
Kazakhstan, and adding a sizable portion to the Eurasian Land Bridge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Land_Bridge>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
bogatyr:
(historical) A medieval Russian heroic warrior, akin to the Western
European knight-errant.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bogatyr>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Faithfulness to the truth of history involves far more than a
research, however patient and scrupulous, into special facts. Such facts
may be detailed with the most minute exactness, and yet the narrative,
taken as a whole, may be unmeaning or untrue. The narrator must seek to
imbue himself with the life and spirit of the time. He must study events
in their bearings near and remote; in the character, habits, and manners
of those who took part in them, he must himself be, as it were, a sharer
or a spectator of the action he describes.
--Francis Parkman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Parkman>
_______________________________________________
Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list.
To unsubscribe, visit:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l
Questions or comments? Contact dal-feedback@wikimedia.org