• Think and Drink: Scrooge’s Politics of Humbug

    Today, we recognize A Christmas Carol as a morality tale about greed, with Charles Dickens becoming “The Man Who Invented Christmas” by discovering the Christmas spirit. But, in its 1843 context, Dickens’s novella is a deeply political response to the horrors of the Industrial Revolution, the exploitative rise of the British Empire, and the political reaction to the New Poor Law of 1834.  

  • Happy Hour: Murder and the Manor House

    Do you love a good mystery? For five decades, Agatha Christie’s primary obsession was murder, but her interest in houses was a close second, particularly the English country house. Taken together, some of her most popular works offer a keen look at the changing fortunes of English country houses in the 20th century. Beloved by readers worldwide, Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation.