Day: December 14, 2020

John le Carre fans have been paying tribute to the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy novelist following his death at the age of 89.

The writer, real name David Cornwell, passed away on Saturday at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro following a short battle with pneumonia.

Confirming that his death was not Covid-related, le Carre’s literary agent, Jonny Geller, said: “His like will never be seen again. Our hearts go out to his four sons, their families and to his dear wife, Jane.”

Leading the online tributes to the world-famous espionage author, US writer Stephen King tweeted: “This terrible year has claimed a literary giant and a humanitarian spirit.” Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore wrote: “Heartbroken #JohnleCarre has gone: the titan of English literature up there with the greats, creator of his own world of masterpieces, studies of betrayal, honour, character, idealism and power that were also spy thrillers.”

While le Carre is renowned for his best-selling books, however, other aspects of his life are less well known. Here are four things about him that may come as a surprise:

Real-life sleuth

Before settling into a career as one of the country’s best-loved writers, le Carre put in stints “teaching at Eton and working for the secret services while studying German in Switzerland”, The Times reports.

The “knowledge of the workings of intelligence agencies” that later informed his writing “stemmed from his role at the British Foreign Service as an intelligence officer in postwar Europe”, the paper adds.

Struggle with success

Le Carre was “bewildered and conflicted” by the success of his breakthrough novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, says The Times.

Throughout his career, he “believed that literary London, with its longstanding apartheid separating literary fiction from its commercial ugly sister, genre fiction, never quite accepted his success”, The Guardian adds.

Less than an hour after le Carre was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2011, his agent released a statement from the author that said: “I do not compete for literary prizes and have therefore asked for my name to be withdrawn.”

He also turned down a knighthood, saying that being “called Commander of the British Empire or any other thing of the British Empire” was “emetic” – that is, vomit-inducing.

Multiple identities

The then-budding author was working for the Foreign Office in the British Embassy in the west German city of Bonn when his first published work, Call For The Dead, was released in 1961. But “Foreign Office officials were not allowed to publish books under their own name”, the BBC reports – a rule that led Cornwell to become le Carre.

Deplored Brexit

Asked his opinion in 2014 on the state of British politics, le Carre described himself as “English to the core”. Yet he “deplored what he saw as the aggressive nationalistic sentiment behind Brexit”, says the BBC. Le Carre insisted: “My England would be the one that recognises its place in the EU. The jingoistic England that is trying to march us out of the EU, that is an England I don’t want to know.”

Despite winning the English Civil War and ruling the British Isles for five years, Oliver Cromwell is more commonly remembered as the ruler who did the unthinkable: banning Christmas.

The puritan lord protector of England and his religious faction had long campaigned against what they considered to be superfluous additions to the religious calendar.

But while Cromwell was undoubtedly a bit of a killjoy, the famous tale of the 17th century leader banning festive fun is not entirely accurate.

Was there a Christmas crackdown?

Yes. In 1644, King Charles I was still on the throne but was fighting troops loyal to the English parliament in the First English Civil War.

• SEE MORE What happened when King Charles I prorogued parliament
• SEE MORE Why the English Civil Wars are still important today
• SEE MORE Black Rod, a crown and a hostage – the strange traditions of the Queen’s Speech

The monarch had ruled alone without Parliament from 1629 to 1640 before being forced to summon MPs to help him raise taxes to stamp out a rebellion in Scotland. When Parliament demanded radical reforms, civil war broke out in 1642.

Many people, particularly the more zealous protestants, or “puritans”, feared King Charles wanted to restore England to the Catholic fold, explains BBC History. Restrictions on Christmas were introduced by the puritan-dominated House of Commons in 1644.

“There had been complaints that the celebration of Christ’s birth was used as an excuse for drunkenness and debauchery. Christmas was renamed ‘Christ tide’ to avoid any reference to Roman Catholic ‘Mass’ and deemed to be an ordinary working day,” says The Times.

Christmas activities, such as dancing, games, singing carols and especially drinking, were eschewed in favour of sober religious contemplation for 25 December.

What did Oliver Cromwell have to do with it?

Author Katherine Clements says that while Parliament was reforming Christmas, Cromwell was “probably more concerned with winning victories” on their behalf as a principal commander of the New Model Army against the king’s troops at Marston Moor in 1644 and Naseby in 1645.

Following King Charles I’s execution in 1649 and the parliamentary victory in the civil war, Cromwell became Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland in December 1653 – by which time the Christmas policy was firmly in place.

Nevertheless, John Goldsmith, chairman of the Cromwell Association, tells The Times that Cromwell must have approved of the Christmas ban as it continued under his rule until he died in 1658.

HistoryExtra says the legislation was “deeply unpopular” among the public and “when King Charles II returned to power in 1660, one of his first acts was to repeal all the anti-Christmas legislation, helping foster his image as the ‘Merry Monarch’”.

A former Tesco worker has shared the 11 things employees of the chain would most like to tell customers but aren’t allowed to. The top one was: “I know it’s three minutes until we open, but I can’t unlock the doors just because you’re standing there.” The staff also wish they could say that they hate the self-service tills more than customers do and that huffing and puffing in the queue won’t make them go any quicker.

Cabin crew in China advised to wear nappies

Flight attendants in China have been advised to wear nappies to reduce their chances of catching Covid-19. The Civil Aviation Administration of China suggests that cabin crew “wear disposable diapers and avoid using the lavatories barring special circumstances to avoid infection risks”. Studies have found that toilets are among the dirtiest places in aeroplanes.

Councillor sets himself on fire on Zoom

A man has accidentally set himself on fire during a Zoom meeting as he tried to light a candle Councillor Tom Sleigh from London shared the footage on Twitter, saying: “Today didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped.” He said he had “badly” burnt his fingers but quickly recovered after plunging them into cold water.