New Biography: Horace de Vere Cole—The Great Prankster of Britain

(Photographs of Horace de Vere Cole in 1910, around the time of his Dreadnaught prank, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Horace de Vere Cole, born in 1881, came from a prominent and prosperous Anglo-Irish family with powerful connections. His sister, Anne, married Neville Chamberlin, the British Prime Minister who, unfortunately, would be forever associated with the appeasement of Nazi Germany. Yet, even with a controversial figure like Neville Chamberlin as his brother-in-law, Horace de Vere Cole’s own reputation for scandal, in many ways, is the more prominent of the two. By the time of his death in 1936, Horace had cemented himself as one of the greatest pranksters of the modern age.

Continue reading about Horace de Vere Cole's life of pranks and mischief, HERE.

New Biography: Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 CE)

The Life Of A Deceptively Deep Man And His Book Of Norse Mythology

(Print of Snorri Sturluson, c. 1899, by Christian Krohg (1852–1925), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

The Prose Edda is a very short book that may be dismissed at a first glance, but once the pages are opened and the words are read, the reader immediately understands why this short book became Scandinavia’s most renowned literary work, and the most elaborate collection of Norse mythology known to exist. The Prose Edda’s author, Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 CE), is equally as deceptive as his book. His name attached to the book may at first only conjure an image of a robed scholar penning down the legends and tales of his country, but he was a much more interesting person than that—Snorri Sturluson was a rich, powerful and conniving Icelandic warlord who met a violent death.

Continue reading about the tumultuous life of Snorri Sturluson, HERE.