500 Echoes

500 Echoes is a collection of anecdotes and amusing incidents that have come my way over the last ten years or so. These have been culled from books of letters, memoirs and biographies. While my selection is primarily designed to amuse it is also a source of surprising revelations. For example, you will discover:

Which famous country house was found to contain Oliver Cromwell’s death mask in 1912.

What cunning ruse King George VI used to stop Churchill visiting the Normandy beaches just days after the landings.

Why the Duke of Buccleuch thought he was too poor to pay his annual subscription of one guinea the Dumfriesshire Football Club.

Which prime minister had such a low profile that a man with whom he went to school failed to recognise him when they shared a railway compartment.

Who said, ‘What people try to get into the papers is seldom news, but what they try to keep out nearly always is.’

The entries are grouped in twenty-two categories, such as ‘Bad judgements’, ‘Eccentrics’, ‘Gruesome tales’, ‘Regrettable remarks’ and ‘Last words’. Generally, though, the book is more for browsing than for systematic reading.

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