Peter Rhodes on giraffes, climate guilt and a sinister love affair with the Nazis
The Battle Hymn of the Republic sung at Trump's inauguration reminded me of my old school choir.
Boldly led by the baritone sixth-formers, we skinny sopranos would belt out: “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord / he is trampling on the village where the great giraffes are stored.” Even a school choir has its bad boys.
The Daily Mail is proud of its scoop of discovering a diary suggesting the 1930s socialite Unity Mitford may have had an affair with Adolf Hitler. But if Mitford's passion outrages us today, it wouldn't have caused much of a stir back then. In the 1930s, democracies were stumbling into recession. Many folk, including some within the British establishment, right up to the deeply dodgy Duke of Windsor, were impressed by the vigour of fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, and rather admired Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini.
