for me, reading david copperfield — i've been a huge fan of charles dickens all my life.'s humour, which is not something that is conveyed in some of the adaptations. very often i think people grow up with the idea that dickens wrote about mud and fog and death and crime and that was it, and he's a very, very funny writer. i want to return to the idea of offence in comedy and satire and where the lines are. because one of your big hits of recent years was the movie the death of stalin, which did extraordinarily well and got great reviews but it struck me that if you had even suggested to investors in the movie industry that you wanted to make a movie about the death of hitler that was going to be full of knockabout comedy involving goering, goebbels, hess and others, they would probably have laughed you out of the room. why is it that one of the great mass murderers of the 20th century can be made fun of, albeit with serious undertones, but made fun of in a movie of yours and not actually cause offence to potentially millions of people across the former soviet union? you

it's 150th anniversary of his death there are also talk of getting rid of the statue of charles dickens but didn't he highlight the gross inequalities of the victorian system and if it happen at legacy and literature this lighter people have a sense charles dickens are going to be a lot that can say yeah are hard to work quite useful. and that note we'll leave it very much longer i'm afraid to run out of time thank you very much indeed you're welcome. well meanwhile the prime minister is pushing ahead with plans to lift the coronavirus lockdown in england but the reopening of non-essential shops shuttled for next week well out in your case isa rally joins me now either respected have you back in the studio the government it seems is preparing to use these lockdown measures across the country what are the plans what we've seen already this week the government having to make. some aspects of their road map out of lockdown that specially with regards to the reopening of schools and to have all children attending back to schools well as far as the prime minister is concerned there are other

but what you chose for your edition from general sherman, from charles dickens and east gertrude stein, all seemed to point at a unaccessible idiot or an nobility. how much did that contribute to the way he was remembered and interpreted? >> i think maybe lou wallace who is famous for getting lost at shiloh and writing ben-hur after the war. he knew something about drama. he said if grant studied to be undramatic, he could not have studied better. i think grant knew what he was doing but also was someone who sort of absented himself. he feels sums -- it feels sometimes absent from the memoirs. he scrupulous does not recount any battles he was not a part of. he is really not the hero of his own tale in that way. he does not put himself forward in the way sherman does, to a greater degree in his own memoirs. he is also not the villain. he is hard to cast as a villain. sherman, and this is one of the epigraph's that you referred to at the beginning of the book, says grant is a mystery to him. he thinks grant was a mystery to himself. i think sherman is being a little coy there, i think sh

the fillmores met charles dickens in washington in 1842. they did not host him at the white house. they did entertain washington hurting additionally, abigail reportedly advised miller not to sign the fugitive slave la. one of their best friends and buffalo was the most prominent abolitionists there, george washington johnson. >> thank you so much. we have only 30 seconds left. why don't we use that to ask both of you about abigail fillmore's legacy? >> books. learning. literacy. >> and the fact that she may have influenced people by being a working first lady. >> careers for women. >> i would say, sadly she dies very shortly, and then her daughter dies three years later. i can only say that there is no documentary evidence whatsoever that she advised film or not to sign a fugitive slave la. these are things that people like to throw out there because they want to enhance people's reputations without any evidence whatsoever. >> actually, i'll be gayle fillmore died and the famous willard hotel which continually plays a role in presidential history. just very shortly after the inaug

. >> she had charles dickens come to the white house. >> yeah. kennedy. bringing some of these leading lights into the white house. of course you know washington irving came when dolly was there. but it's, she was interested in these more intellectual literal pursuits and with her bad ankle, i don't think anyone understands what those receptions were like. >> several hours of standing. >> hours and hours and hours of standing on your feet. >> but this salon she created, it would seem like a very intimate place to bring key members of congress and others. was it a way to be in the inner sang t sank tum of the president and advance his goals? >> i don't think so. i think few congressmen in those days were interested in talking to a novelist or talking to a cultural figure like that. she brought the woman known as the swedish nightingale to sing. that would have been a celebrity. perhaps some members of of congress would have wanted to see the celebrity. i think there's a bifurcation with abigail creating a formal setting that the former schoolteach

the doctor doolittle books a secret garden and graduated to where i discovered jane austen and charles dickens. the eighth grade i was admitted to the adult library for my appetite for reading was wedded further. discovering the key to literature just how one was better than the next and as the newark museum introduced to the techniques for distinguishing great art from good they seemed arbitrary especially looking at contemporary art or architecture i could not fathom how teachers or scholars whose books you are studying who decided what was the best everything became much clearer the history of art and decorative art and architecture professors were inspiring trying to determine if one artist work was superior to contemporaries why was the portrait considered a masterpiece and finally the classic why are paintings by van gogh ignored and perceived as priceless today? to have a charming better cautionary tale the air to a new york fortune entrusted 18 years of age with $5000 within our collection for the family takes the grand tour and in the mid- 18 hundreds a highly stylized work by painter

the fillmores met charles dickens in washington in 1842. they did not host them at the white house.so they did entertain washington irving and william makepeace thackeray. additionally, abigail reportedly advised millard not to sign the fugitive slave law. and one of her best friends in buffalo was the most prominent abolitionist there, george washington johnson. >> well, thank you so much. we have only 30 seconds left. so why don't we use that as a way to ask both of you abigail fillmore's legacy? would you like to start? >> books, learning, literacy. >> and the fact that she may have influenced people by being a working first lady to your point earlier? >> yes, yes, careers for women. >> yes, i would say that that's the same -- sadly she dies very shortly. >> tragic. >> after they leave washington, and then her daughter dies two years later. i can only say that there is no documentary evidence whatsoever that she advised fillmore not to sign the fugitive slave law and this is again the apocryphal things that people like to throw out there because they want to enhance people's repu

and charles dickens, as we know today, as one of the most prolific writers of that time period.nother item that she brought back was a gaming table that was give to them by the people of ireland. and it's 500 pieces of inlaid wood. and they would play games like euchre, which we still play today. it sits up, rolls up, and it looks like a regular table when you open it up, but the craftsmanship is incredibly remarkable. another piece that goes back to them during the white house is actually the fruit container. and that was a gift from the children of philadelphia when they were in the white house. and eliza brought that back home with her when they returned. >> and on twitter, michael wants to know aside from queen emma's visit in 1866, did any other royals from the kingdom of hawaii visit the white house? >> not to my knowledge. >> and our first telephone call is from abraham, who is watching us in huntsville, alabama. hi, abraham, you're on. >> caller: hello, how are you? thank you for taking my call. i just think this program is so great because we studied so much about the p

that was of charles dickens who in 1867 would come visit them at the white house. returned and brought back one of his books. she was an avid reader and this gave her a chance to remember her visit and charles dickens as we know today is one of the most prolific writers of that time period. another item that she brought back was a gaming table that was given to them by the people of ireland. it's 500 pieces of inlaid wood and they would play games like yuker which we still play today. sits up, rolls up and looks like a regular table when you open it up but the craftsmanship is remarkable. another piece that goes back to them in the white house is the fruit container. that was a gift from the children of philadelphia when they were in the white house. and eliza brought that back home with her when they returned. >> and on twitter, michael wants to know, aside from queen emma's visit in 1866, did any other royals from the kingdom of hawaii visit the white house? >> not to my knowledge. >> huh-uh. >> our first telephone call is from abraham watching us in huntsville,

you might love reading charles dickens. okay fine. you should read what you love to read read and if you open a book and say while the story really draws me in, and read it. it's george elliott, fine. i don't care. host: another character that is in throughout the series is enemy. bushy. walter: enemy is that woman who has the strength and the weaknesses of black women had to carry. since they got dragon over here. children they can't keep or control. men that they can't keep or control. clive said they have to hold together whether they can troll with this around them or not. the strength of the defines the world around them. this little black women of course. she is the ideal woman. in this life most mouse and easy rawlins cluster. she loves mouse more. he's more of a problem. then easy rawlins will never be but you can help we love. host: about mama joe. walter: think a lot of us have agreed that moment. without it, you become less because society defines assist less. when i believe they can reach a place that you can't understand

cassie buchannan is head teacher at charles dickens primary in london.would like to know how to do it, and there are a couple of things that are preventing us from doing it at the moment. one is the limit on class sizes to 15, and that makes it really tricky for schools with limited classroom spaces schools with limited classroom 5 pa ces to schools with limited classroom spaces to expand those out and find those other rooms in the school were pe equipment might be or you are storing art equipment. there just isn't the space at the moment. so it would be great to hear based on scientific advice that we can spread those children into bubbles of 30. and then the other thing is, the one or two—metre rule and then relaxing that a little bit, and if it was down to one metre, that would make it easier to fit more children in a classroom, because i have been out with my ruler, and if i can reduce the distancing to one metre, then we can fit more tables and chairs into the rooms. and you say that it doesn't really apply as much, and particularly in primary schoo

charles dick cannens. in the eighth -- dickens. already curious about the writer's craft, i sought to discover the key to good literature, sometimes reading several books on the same subject to figure out just how one was better than the next. during high school i took courses in art and decoration at the newark museum where i was introduced to the techniques for distinguishing great art from good. those seemed arbitrary then, sometimes especially when i looked at contemporary art, i couldn't fathom how my teach you ares -- teachers had decided what was the best. in college i studied the history of art, architecture and decorative arts. my professors were inspiring. i try, along with my fellow students, to determine what made one artist's work superior to that of his contemporaries, also the question of why tastes change, why is a portrait considered a masterpiece in the 15th century and worthless in the 19th? and finally a classic in the 20th? why were paintings -- edith wharton tells a charming but cautionary tale. the heir to a