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Many would suggest that it certainly could happen 'here, ' which is precisely the point that Sinclair Lewis was making when he wrote this book in 1935.

A Laodicean; or, The Castle of the De Stancys. A Story of To-Day is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1880-81 in Harper's New Monthly Magazine. The plot exhibits devices uncommon in Hardy's other fiction, such as falsified telegrams and faked photographs. Paula Power inherits a medieval castle from her industrialist father who had purchased it from the aristocratic De Stancy family.She employs two architects, one local and one, George Somerset, newly qualified from London. Somerset represents modernity in the novel. In the village there is an amateur photographer, William Dare, the illegitimate son of Captain De Stancy, an impoverished scion of that family. Captain De Stancy represents to Paula the notion of medieval nobility.She is attracted to each man for his respectively different virtues.William Dare, bastard and unrecognised son of Captain de Stancy, and a thorough wastrel, decides to intervene to promote his father in her affections (solely so that he, Wade, can continue to gamble and live off Paula's income). He fakes a telegram and a photograph to make it appear that Somerset is leading a dissolute lifestyle as a drunken gambler. His subterfuge is discovered by Captain De Stancy's sister Charlotte who has befriended Paula.She decides to tell Paula the truth and Paula pursues Somerset to the continent where he has gone mistakenly believing Paula and the Captain to have been married. She finds him and they are reunited and marry. In revenge, Wade burns down the castle using his family's portraits and furniture as kindling; Somerset proposes to build a modern house in its place.The last line has Paula summing up her dichotomy of mind between modernity and romantic medievalism, and thus the two men, also emphasising the title "a Laodicean" (someone indifferent or half-hearted) - "I wish my castle wasn't burnt; and I wish you were a De Stancy!" The usage of "Laodicean" to mean someone lacking commitment comes from a reference in the New Testament: To the angel of the church in Laodicaea write: - "These are the words of the Unchanging One, 'the witness faithful and true, the beginning of the Creation of God': -I know your life; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. If only you were either cold or hot! But now, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth."- Revelation 3:14-16 OEB (wikipedia.org)

A ghostly stranger, an ex-adventurer and supplier of 'hot' pork pies, a delirious Duke, a Sun worshiping zealot, a young man with a case of 'miracle' cures, and a butcher with an axe to grind... Madness and mayhem blossom like unexpected dalliances, but the question remains - will Sir Richard Upson and the Duchy of Lower Icing be undone by a silver button? What does happen when Doctor Manky Strolls In? Find out in this amusingly intriguing story set in the imaginary medieval world of The Five Duchies... in particular, the bustling town of Lower Icing, where the Inns are in, the guards need guards, and the news is yelled out by a man in a red coat... but not the real news.

Ce livre se penche sur les ¿uvres moins connues des légendes arthuriennes. Chacune de ces histoires apporte une richesse unique à la mythologie autour des chevaliers de la Table-Ronde et à l'univers enchanté de Brocéliande.Dans « Brun de la Montagne », la manière dont les fées répartissent des dons aux enfants évoque une thématique récurrente dans la mythologie celtique, celle des choix et des conséquences. Le personnage de Viviane dans « Le Roman de Merlin » est fascinant, car il met en lumière la dualité de l'amour et du pouvoir, alors que la capture de Merlin soulève des questions sur le libre arbitre et l'influence des enchantements.D¿autre part, « Le Roman de Ponthus » nous rappelle l¿importance des quêtes personnelles et des aventures épiques. La connexion entre l'amour et l'héroïsme est un motif cher à la littérature médiévale, et la Fontaine et le Perron de Bellanton ajoutent une dimension fantastique à cette histoire.Enfin, « Li Romans de Claris et Laris » avec ses fées moins connues, nous montre que l'univers féérique est riche et varié, allant au-delà des figures emblématiques comme Morgane et Viviane. Cela souligne la complexité et la profondeur de la tradition celtique, où chaque personnage, même ceux moins célèbres, joue un rôle essentiel dans le tissage des récits.L'ouvrage de Félix Bellamy offre un éclairage précieux sur ces ¿uvres et leur contribution à la légende arthurienne, tout en célébrant la culture celtique. C'est certainement une lecture enrichissante pour les amateurs de druidisme et de mythologie.

As a ten-year-old, Gilbert Sparks watched his mother die...Now, eleven years on, he still blames himself. It's 1891 in the northwest of England. Innovations in clockwork and steam power are propelling the Industrial Revolution to new heights in engineering and technology. Gilbert has finally settled into a job as a navigator on the ground-breaking, but controversial, Manchester Ship Canal project, but his violent reaction to fellow workers' jibes has put his future in jeopardy. Now, forged in guilt, tempered by vengeance, a tragic chain of events hurls him into a dark, unfamiliar world of secret societies, and he finds himself battling for his life. Clinging to memories of his mother, will he choose to face his demons alone? Or will he draw on the passion and strength of newfound friends? Take a seat, curl up and immerse yourself in a tale from another time, another place.