Reviews and Comments

Jean wonders what causes humans to want to form relationships with wild animals. I suspect this is the same ancestral drive that led to domestication of wolves into dogs, the taming of wild horses and cattle and the evolution from hunter/gatherers to farmers.

In discussing whether trauma might not always result in permanent negative effects Attila is describing the possibility of Survivorship bias

Paraphrasing Attila - In Government they are taught to treat the electorate like six year olds. If you ask them a question on any subject most of them can only come up with 3 words we identify with that thing. The words depend on what our concerns are or what the newspapers tell us our concerns are.

I believe social media is replacing newspapers as the main source. News consumption in the UK: 2024

This is a risk as it is less trustworthy - due to having fewer checks and reduced traceability.

In Attila's view free will was a circus horse you had to stay astride, it took every every muscle in your body and every moment of your concentration.

it was interesting to encounter, in a book with themes, amongst others, of migration both for people and for foxes, coyotes and wolves - a connection to Determined which also shows the deep connections between humans and other animals.

Expert witnesses duty is to the court, rather than whichever side pays them, and their payment can not be contingent on supporting a particular position

Atilla's description of the widespread potential for evil behaviour reminded me of Corruptible, and it's discussion of the exercise of power.

I inherited my copy from my father, who received it as part of the Sir Alfred Lewis Prize in 1952

I suspect the Tony Harker mentioned in the acknowledgements is the same one I knew in Theoretical Physics at Harwell in the UKAEA days.

The Excellent Women are those - in this context - who quietly get on, in a volunteer capacity, with the myriad of small jobs needed to keep an organisation like a church running. In the 1950s these would have been almost entirely women - but also those who were not unable to perform this role due to needs of employment or domestic duties.

Anthropologists are a theme, but put me in mind of Domenica MacDonald from the 44 Scotland Street series, though she, in that series, is a more major character. Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World is a non-fiction examination of our culture by a contemporary anthropologist.

The Jumble Sale described in chapter 7 brought back memories of Scout Jumble Sales, where I remember the transformation of sweet old (as they seemed at the time) ladies into ruthless hunters snatching garments from each other and requiring the hapless scouts on the stall to adjudicate.

There are several places in the narrative where Laurie survives to continue, and eventually write about his adventures. This is an interesting example of Survivorship bias in that we do not get to hear the stories of those who try to walk during the day from Toro to Valladolid and do not complete the journey with the hospitality of strangers and a car ride.

Pre-war rural Cotswolds. The Lady Hardcastle books, although fictional, are also set in the Cotswolds from which Laurie departs. They are set shortly before the First, rather than Second, World War - but rural life was still similar.