Benjamin Franklin
The pedant’s progress through history
The pompous know-it-all despised by classical philosophers became a stock comic character of 16th-century theatre – and finally a bore to be pitied
Murder she imagined: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami reviewed
The Moroccan-born American writer’s fifth novel is set in a US where algorithmic policing has halved gun deaths and despite the loss of liberty the majority are happy with the bargain
Being a printer was what Benjamin Franklin prided himself on most
Having learnt the trade as a child in London, the polymath established a thriving printing business in Philadelphia, bringing humour and enlightenment to the American millions
Memos to self
It would be perverse not to succumb to the temptation to write this review as a list. So, the first…
