Classics Retold

What might have been the number of members in the earliest human bands?  Human bands - small nomadic , egalitarian group of 30 to 50 people related by kinship are considered the primary social structure for most of the human history. Egalitarian means the members were of equal rights.  This may not be true to the word. The strongest male might have dominated the entire group. Children, followed by women might have experienced the greatest disability.  Since the group might not have engaged in wealth creation competition was limited to division of hunted meat or gathered fruits and nuts. Still the alf male must have dominated the band. Evolving over millions of years, these groups were defined by shared foraging, co-operative subsistence, and informal leadership. Foraging is the act of searching for, identifying, harvesting wild food sources from nature. It requires careful identification to avoid toxic lookalikes and awareness of contamination. Key Stages In The Evolutio...

British novelist and civil servant of Victorian era. 47 novels. Among these two series of six novels. They are Chronicles of Barsetshire and Palliser Novels. The first series were published between 1855 and 1867. They are set in fictional English county of Barsetshire. The novel deals with the life of clergy and gentry, and the political, amatory [1], and social manoeuvrings among them.  The series consists of the following:- 1. The Warden 1855 2. Berchester Towers 1857 3. Doctor Throne 1858 4. Framely Parsonage 1861 5. The Small House at Allington 1864 6. The Last Chronicle of Barset. 1867 These are the novels in the Pallisers:- 1. Can You Forgive Her? 1865 2. Phineas Finn 1869 3. The Eustace Diamonds 1873 4.  Phineas Redux.1874 5.  The Prime Minister 1876 6. The Dukes children 1880. The novels encompass several literary genres including family saga 

Weatherbury bees were late in swarming, this year. It was later part of June, and the day after Sergeant Francis Troy visited the farm, that Bathsheba Everdene was standing in her garden, watching a swarm in the air, and guessing their probable settling place. They were late and unruly. Sometimes, throughout the season they would settle on the lowest bough, on a currant-bush or espalier apple tree . Next year they would settle straight off to the tallest coastard, or quarrington [1] and there defy all invaders who did not come with ladders and staves to take them. Bathsheba shaded her eyes, by one hand, were following these multitudes of swarming bees, and they ultimately halted by one of the trees. The bustling swarm had swept the sky in a scattered and uniform haze, which now thickened to a nebulous centre.  This glided on to a bough, and grew still denser, till it formed a solid blank spot upon the light. All the men and women were engaged in saving the hay, Liddy too left the h...

This quote was attributed to Lieutenant Colonel James Brown, a British military officer and diplomat who served the East India Company in India during the late 18th century.  The statement reflects a cynical view of the military power common in the feudal, aristocratic and colonial contexts, where the standing army is seen as a tool for domestic control and the suppression of internal dissent rather than a force for external defence.  Colonel James Brown made this view in the context of his mission to Mughal court of shah Alam Il. Browne was sent by Governor General Warran Hastings to gather intelligence on the Sikh confederacy and other regional powers that threatened Company's interests.  Mughal Emperor was largely a figurehead depending on various regional powers.  Browne observed that the Emperor's military forces were increasingly used for internal coercion to extract revenue from restless subjects. He observed that large standing armies were a massive financial...

Espalier is a method of training and pruning a tree forcing it to grow against the wall or a free-standing trellis.  It originated in the Middle Ages as a way to grow fruit inside the safety of castle walls, many non-fruiting plants including yew, cotoneaster, magnolia, and dogwood can be espaliered. 

The verge of the haymead.  "Ah, Miss Everdene!" said the seargent, lifting his small cap, "Little did I think it was you I was speaking to the other night.   And yet, if I had reflected, 'the Queen of the Corn- market' - truth is truth at any hour of day or night, and I have heard you so named in Casterbridge yesterday - the Queen of the Corn-market', I say could be no other woman. I step across now to beg your forgiveness a thousand times for having been led by my feelings to express myself too strongly for a stranger.  To be sure I am not stranger to the place. I am seargent Troy, as I told you, and I have assisted your uncle in the fields so many times when I was a lad.  I have been doing the same for you today." "I suppose I must thank you for that, seargent Troy," said the Queen of the Corn-market, in an indifferently grateful tone.  The seargent looked hurt and sad.  "Indeed you must not, Miss Everdene," he said, "Why could...