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Editorial
These days China is constantly in the headlines, so it seemed about time to examine the history of Chinese immigration to England. Fred Donnelly has performed another exciting feat of historical sleuthing to uncover the tragic story of Yhou Fung Queon, believed to have been the first Chinese woman to visit England, while Chiang Yee's travelogue The Silent Traveller in London provides a fascinating insight into how London was perceived by one visitor who eventually made it his home for a substantial part of his life. Elsewhere in Books, Steve Cox examines Michael Wood's new microhistorical approach in The Story of England, which sheds light on national history's major themes by researching the experience of one particular village. Monty Trumpington intriguingly compares Hardy's Jude with Forster's Leonard Bast to highlight similar dynamics of social and cultural snobbery in both cases. Neil Jackson provides an in-depth account of the life and works of James Curtis, a little-known crime novelist chiefly known for They Drive By Night, and Alex Betts turns his attention to matters of gentlemanly elegance in his review of Gustav Temple's new book Am I A Chap? --a question which in Alex's case is surely rhetorical. For ladies, Em Marshall-Luck's reviews of various English beauty products in the Diversions section will prove of equal interest. Art contains a generous number of reviews. Paul Flux is less than convinced by a recent exhibition on the Vorticists, and welcomes a new book on the mad Victorian artist Richard Dadd with imagination and sensitivity. He also evaluates the oeuvre of a rising star in the English art world, Thomas Houseago, whose sculptures inventively combine various media. We are very pleased to welcome Mark Jones, who contributes a review of a new book on Samuel Palmer that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking, revealing Palmer's little-known reactionary side. |