Wilhelm Lamszus: Human Slaughterhouse

Wilhelm Lamszus wrote a disturbing prophecy with his bestseller "The Human Slaughterhouse – Pictures of the Coming War". In 1912, the German teacher anticipated the horrors of World War I in his novel.

President Thomas Jefferson Was a Slave Owner

Who said: "We believe that all men are created equal"? I suppose it all comes down to what definition you apply to "men." One of the first presidents of the United States was a well-known slave owner. Meanwhile, we have the first Afro-American President in the White House. Annette Gordon-Reed’s The Hemingses Of Monticello: An American Family was published by Norton as it a timely reminder of a second family of a historic president.

Thomas Jefferson

When Jean-Paul Sartre Refused The Nobel Prize For Literature

22 October 1964, everyone was waiting for the announcement of who had won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Finally, it was already afternoon, the news-tickers started working: Jean-Paul Sartre had been chosen to be honored in Stockholm. A short time later, the news-tickers were busily writing again: Jean-Paul Sartre rejected the Nobel Prize for Literature. The literary world was left either speechlessly astounded or vociferously outraged.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Nobel Errors

Every year, the awarding of the Nobel Prizes and the subsequent announcement of the winners gives ample opportunity to make snide remarks and scope for a good gripe. Did the right person get it or was the wrong person overlooked and went away empty-handed? Was the award given from political motivation or was it handed out on the basis of a great discovery? The Nobel Prize has many stories that range from strange to touching and outright tragic.