“I like an Englishman to look like an Englishman, and beards are foreign and breed vermin. Also depend upon it, they will lead to filthy habits.”
Europe has had a love-hate relationship with facial hair since the Late Middle Ages. In the eleventh century, beards were celebrated as an expression of fertility caused by men’s “hot breath”. Yet by the turn of t ... Show More
Oct 2022
10. Killing for the Koh-i-Noor
Divide and rule, a man described as Brian Blessed but ‘with a bigger, bushier, blacker beard’, and a whole lot of regicide. Join Anita and William as they continue to take us through the rip-roaring history of the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
LRB Empire offer: lrb.me/empire
Twitter: @Emp ... Show More
58m 7s