Brevity is best
DISTINGUISHED historian and prolific scribbler Niall Ferguson gives short shrift to lengthy treatises. The former Glasgow Academy pupil now plies his trade in the States, where he is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and regularly advises prominent American politicians. He has also found time to complete nine major works of history.
But is composing weighty tomes worth all the bother? Perhaps not.
Niall admits he writes books that are “far too long for anyone to read cover to cover”.
He adds: “A book is now essentially a decoration in an office or in a home.”
So how should a historian communicate his ideas to the great unwashed? “Ultimately you get to the point where you can express your most sophisticated ideas in a tweet,” says Niall.
“Once we’ve done the unintelligible, we produce the tweet.”
Do the locomotion
STROLLING in Muirend, reader Caroline Crowden spotted a young mother pushing a baby in a pram. The baby, clearly some sort of unruly troublemaker, casually tossed its blanket from the carriage.
In a cut-glass English accent the mother tried to reason with her child.
“Never discard what you care for, darling,” she primly scolded, “and you know you cherish your blanky.”
The baby heeded these wise words not at all, and repeated the rebellious action.
Leaving the Diary to conclude that the world isn’t going to hell in a handcart. It’s a pram that will provide the locomotion.
Frozen out
THE Diary is delighted that megastar Leonardo DiCaprio has graced COP26 with his presence, though the Glasgow shindig was already a glam affair, with Boris and Nicola providing the sort of Hollywood pizzaz that hasn’t been witnessed since the third ‘Look Who’s Talking’ movie.
But is Leonardo really the best person to promote the COP agenda?
After all, he’s most famous for appearing in a film about a boat that could easily have reached its destination, if only global warming had got its act together faster, and melted a few more pesky icebergs.
Ennui exorcised
CURIOUS reader Henry Thompson wonders what his parents did to forestall boredom before the internet was invented.
“I asked my six brothers and three sisters,” says Henry. “They didn’t have a clue, either.”
Pooh-pooh the shampoo
VISITING his local supermarket, Gary Forbes spotted Batman shampoo. Our disappointed correspondent says: “No idea why they don’t also sell conditioner Gordon.”
Horsing around
PROFOUND thought of the day comes from reader Martin Fenn, who says: “A truly wise chap never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here