BOOK BARN

#285: JOAN—II. Not the Joan of history, but Bernard Shaw’s. Some years ago my circle of friends ran heavily to local amateur and semi-pro actors, who were always kicking around what roles they dreamt of playing. One of them—one of the most gifted actors I’ve ever known personally—answered the question with a promptness that showed long forethought. When she said she wanted to play Shaw’s Joan, I was surprised: she was not religious, lit no candles to the Catholic church,

#284: THE PAINTINGS IN THE PALACE. In February of 1626, Charles I ascended to the throne of Great Britain. This wasn’t supposed to happen: Charles was the spare, the younger brother of the much beloved Prince Henry, who by all reports was Charles’s superior in physicality, personality and popular affection. Henry had also cottoned on very nicely to one of the new ways of broadcasting political stature: he had shown great enthusiasm for the collecting of sculpture, tapestr

#283: SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, OR, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. “In 1692, the Massachusetts Bay Colony executed fourteen women, five men, and two dogs for witchcraft.” The Salem witch trials are part of every New Englander’s collective memory. Even as the time recedes further into the past, the trials have become part of the local pop and tourist culture—Salem on Hallowe’en is scarcely less crowded than Times Square on New Year’s Eve. The subject has interested me for years and I’