Showing results for "The Science of Character" in Europe

Theophrastus' Characters is a joyous festival of fault-finding: a collection of thirty closely observed personality portraits, defining the full spectrum of human flaws, failings, and follies. With piquant details of speech and behavior taken straight off the streets of ancient Athens, Theophrastus gives us sketches of the mean, vile, and annoying that are comically distorted yet vividly real. Enlivened by Pamela Mensch's fresh translation, Theophrastus' Characters transports us to a world populated by figures of flesh and blood, not bronze and marble.

Writing in the 19th century, John Timbs recounts the tales of some of the most idiosyncratic eccentrics of his own day and the preceding centuries. This audiobook begins with the story of the Beckford dynasty, who lavishly built the monstrous Fonthill Abbey, which, owing to their unconventional approach tended to fall down as quickly as it could be constructed. Then there is Beau Brummel, the celebrated dandy, whose stylish attire and his ongoing feud with the Prince of Wales were the gossip of the day.