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Continuing with our theme of wild English creativity is a must read: English Eccentrics, written in 1933 by the very eccentric poet Dame Edith Sitwell. From the publisher's blurb: "...(I)nside we find hermits, quacks, mariners, indefatigable travelers, and men of learning. We meet the amphibious Lord Rokeby, whose beard reached his knees and who seldom left his bath; the irascible Captain Thicknesses, who left his right hand, to be cut off after his death, to his son Lord Audley; and Curricle Coats, the Gifted Amateur, whose suit was sewn with diamonds and whose every performance ended in uproar. This is a glorious gallery of the extremes of human nature, portrayed with humor, sympathy, knowledge, and love." And, I might add, a lot of fun to read, too. That's Sitwell on the cover, incidentally.